Definition of Strength
by MiyukiAya
Summary: AU Love-hating Haruno Sakura only wants one thing. To become stronger. God help all those poor people who get in her way.
1. An Intro

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, my fairy god-mother hasn't been picking up her calls, maybe getting deaf in her old age. So, no, I don't own Naruto & Co.

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_'italic'_ – internal thoughts

"normal"- spoken words

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Love Me

The sounds of two people arguing rose steadily like a pillar of smoke, the rising volume intruding into the tranquillity of the morning, its source from a small house amongst a row of similar houses by the one of the many streets in Konohagakure.

A young roseate-haired girl rolled her eyes, leaving the house like a mouse through the front door, her almost shoulder-length hair swaying gently, obscuring her face. She brushed it away roughly, revealing bright, unhappy jade eyes.

It had been yet another fight between her mum and her newest boyfriend, and she wasn't going to stay just to get dragged into whatever pointless argument they were having now. Being a sensible and logical-minded girl, Haruno Sakura just couldn't understand why her mum couldn't quit dating all these losers.

Sakura's mum had been dating countless men ever since she could remember, with an endless cycle of dates, falling in love, breakups, tubs of ice-creams and more dates again. It was as if she was trying to fill some imaginary hole in her life, a hole that could only be filled by Love. Or so she thinks. Sakura knew better. Love is a non-entity, only useful for turning normal people into bumbling idiots, leaving a mental wreckage of a person after each breakup.

She sighed, exhaling a cloud of mist, quickly side-stepping to avoid a few errant people heading towards the morning market, absent-mindedly greeting a few that recognized her. Increasing her speed to shake off the early morning chill and to avoid meeting more people on the way, the familiar path she was practically flying on grew narrower.

The trees surrounding the area visibly thickened as the growth on the forest floor receded, accompanied with the sounds of the local wildlife. The twittering of blue jays, unhampered by the hustle and bustle of village activity, signalled her proximity to her favourite training ground in the village. She finally halted her jog in a clearing almost well known to her as the back of her hand.

It had been 6 years since she first came to Training Ground Number 115, one of the many training grounds in Konohagakure, searching for solace away from the chaos that frequently haunts her house. Here with the many training posts for throwing kunai or even just taijutsu and targets painted on the towering trees, the then small girl found that she could safely vent out all her frustrations in peace.

Now in the present, she ran through a series of warm up exercises, flowing into the academy's taijutsu katas. These actions eventually pulled up her long sleeves, exposing a series of long white scars. Her green eyes darkened as her fingertips ran though the slightly raised flesh. With her mind on that incident 5 years ago, her movements grew more furious, began rapidly speeding through her various katas, until she was moving as if she were fighting against many imaginary opponents. She stopped abruptly, turning to the training posts and let loose a volley of shuriken, each hitting dead centre on the painted targets causing a symphony of clinks.

Not satisfied, she took out a brace of kunai, nailing each post with a kunai with successive thunks. No, she would never let herself be that weak again. Still exuding anger, she collected each deadly weapon, giving each a quick wipe over. Storing them in her pouch and kunai holder, she stood and stretched, and after a few minutes, went through the same katas again with the same fervour, continuing her routine.

The sun slowly rose to the middle of the sky, dissipating the morning mists, with the tropical heat and humidity Konoha is famous swelling in response. Ignoring the sting on her knuckles from striking trees while practicing, Sakura flopped onto the ground, her normally pale skin flushed, sweating profusely, exhausted from her exertions. Closing her jade green eyes, she turned her concentration on her breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly, clearing her mind of all thoughts. After an indefinite time, with her body cooled and mind calm, her eyes blinked open. She was ready.

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Excited students filed into the classroom at the Academy, a pandemonium of noise and energy, eagerly awaiting the start of the ninja orientation. Her first day as a ninja, Sakura sat at the back, quietly meditating to calm her nerves, ignoring the commotion that started in front of the classroom. Composing herself, she counted the number of students that managed to pass the exams. 27.

The clamour of the class died suddenly upon the arrival of Iruka-sensei, replaced instead with a sense of anticipation.

Doing his last duty as the Ninja Academy instructor, Iruka-sensei lectured them on their duties as new genin. Mentally tuning out his speech, already knowing it by heart, Sakura glanced around the room, taking note of who had passed. _'Purple hair... Wantanabe Ami, Uchiha Fan Girl No. 2, next to her... Long blond-hair... Ah, Uchiha Fan Girl No.1, Yamanaka Ino. Black hair like a duck's backside... Uchiha Sasuke, a bastard. Nara Shikamaru, lazy-ass... Hyuuga Hinata... No surprise there. No... No! That spiky blond hair and an orange jumpsuit! The IDIOT who constantly follows me, passed?'_ Sakura slumped into her seat, suddenly overwhelmed with an impending sense of doom.

Iruka-sensei went through a list of teams, ears of the graduates suddenly straining to take note. "Team 7", he eventually called out, "Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura prayed against all hopes. "Haruno Sakura", the hopes were dashed, "and Uchiha Sasuke". All life was sucked out of her instantly. Her team consists of idiot stalker who only knows how to eat ramen and THAT DAMNED BASTARD who stole her rightful first place position in the academy. A few miserly bonus points from those flashy fire jutsus was all it took for that bastard. Damn him.

_'I am doomed'_. Miserably awaiting her fate, witnessing the dobe, Naruto, celebrating his luck at landing "his Sakura-chan", she sank further into her seat. 'God hates me', she sighed. Still cursing her bad luck, she missed the assignments of the other teams, only coming back to awareness when Naruto moved to her seat and starting blabbering about how happy he was to be in the same team as her, and the bad luck about Sasuke. She couldn't become a chunnin fast enough to escape this team. At least it couldn't get worse?

A couple hours later, every team except the newly christened Team 7 had met and left with their senseis. Naruto had begun pacing around restlessly, mumbling out loudly about what a lousy sensei they had, giving her yet another headache. Finally, fed up, Sakura opened her mouth, ready to yell at the blond with fox-whiskers, only to shut it, dumfounded when she saw him grab a chalkboard eraser and wedged it in the top of the door of the classroom.

Intuitively, she knew it wasn't going to end well. "No jounin would fall for that, dobe," Sasuke berated the idiot. Nonetheless, Sasuke leaned out of his seat ever so slightly in anticipation. Sakura could merely sigh internally, closing her jade eyes, disregarding the ridiculous affair, meditating. _'Wait, I feel an approaching chakra presence?'_ Sakura concentrated, tuning her senses. _'No! Naruto's trap!'_ Snapping her eyes open, groaning, she was greeted with the sight of a dust-covered silver haired jounin wearing a dark blue mask and standard vest.

"My first impression is I don't like you." Those words made her heart plummet. Giving up on her restraint, she thwacked Naruto on the head.

"Meet me up on the roof." was all they heard before the masked jounin poofed away leaving a cloud of smoke in his place.

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Really, the Sandaime should have let him quit after he failed his 23rd genin team 3 months ago. Kakashi shook his head. This is just another typical team, the #1 rookie, a know-it-all fan girl and the dead-last. Having a tragic past, the sole Uchiha survivor will be an emo, revenge-obsessed idiot. The girl has pink hair! Who has pink hair? And that blond is a loud-mouthed, undisciplined prankster._ 'Sigh, I just have to get it over quickly so I can get back to my Icha Icha.'_

Almost as if summoned by that thought, the three aspiring genin burst through the door that led to the roof, all three simultaneously panting and arguing who reached first. _'Interesting,_' He mused, _'So they all have a competitive streak. This has excellent entertainment potential… Perhaps I could spare a little more time with this.'_

"You're late." Kakashi asserted, anticipating an interesting response.

"You… You… Sensei!" They could only stammer, not having recovered from their race to the top.

"Well, introduce yourselves," The Jounin stated abruptly, cutting through their sputtering. "Your name, what you like, dislike and so on," he said lackadaisically.

"How about you sensei?" the blond boy interjected.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like some things, dislike some, have a few hobbies, and dreams... Never thought about it."

"So, all we got was his name." Sakura mused out loud.

"You, Blondie." Kakashi pointed at Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen. The ramen at Ichiraku Ramen is good too. I hate the 3 minutes wait for the water to cook the ramen. My hobbies are eating and comparing cup ramen! My dream is to surpass all the past Hokages!"

_'So he grew up rather interestingly.'_ Smiling, Kakashi indicated at the girl, "OK, next."

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like meditation. My hobbies are reading and training. My dreams... I want to become the strongest kunoichi so no one can..." She trailed off. "I hate arrogant bullies and idiots who chase after others so they can proclaim their love." She said pointedly, glaring at Naruto. The orange wearing ninja could only wilt in his seat.

"And lastly."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything and I hate almost everything. My dream isn't a dream, it's an ambition. To revive my clan and kill a certain someone."

_'A typical Uchiha.'_ He noted the cringe Naruto and Sakura made. _'Not quite fans of his I see.'_ "Now that everyone's introduced, your first mission tomorrow is survival training," Kakashi continued.

"But we have already finished this training at the academy, sensei!" The three 12-year olds protested in unison.

"Oh, you're going to like this!" Kakashi exclaimed with an evil grin. "Out of the 27 graduates, only nine will become Genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, the test has a 66% drop out rate." Enjoying their dismayed expressions he continued. "Bring your ninja equipment and meet at 5 AM. Oh, and make sure you don't eat anything. You might just throw up."

_'I am going to have fun with this.'_ He fought down the evil cackle that was rising up. No, it wouldn't do good to ruin his reputation. Taking out his prized Icha Icha Paradise, he settled down to continue where he stopped last, making sure to take pleasure from the ensuing chaos from his "temporary" genin team.

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Really, I really am sorry to end it here. I actually just posted this very very short chapter so I could test the FFN format. I've just realised it also kills all my previous formatting. Any one with tips of how to preserve it, or the examples of best formats to use? Any help would be great! I tried searching online (ie. google) but couldn't find the information I want or need. Meanwhile, every reader will just have to bear with me while I'm still trying to figure out the ropes here.

This story was partially inspired by the manga Skip Beat by Yoshiki Nakamura. While reading the manga, I found it amusing that every single member of the Love Me division had some sort of Love-disability. So much that I just had to attempt my own. Sakura in Love Me (temporary title pending change) simply doesn't believe in romantic love. Never knowing her father and witnessing her mum and her mom's numerous boyfriends, Sakura basically turns into an anti-love campaigner with an negative or apathetic view towards men. No love for her, no way! This is the whole premise of my story.

She is driven by this mysterious drive to become stronger. The reason will debut soon in further chapters.

I formed the Sakura in this AU more like a model of the Sakura in Shippuden as well as Inner Sakura, not being as immature or sheltered as the canon's Sakura, simply because she was forced to grow up much earlier, due to certain circumstances. These circumstances also trigger some interesting reactions, such as her revulsion to Eros (romantic) love. How would a love-hating, maturer (somewhat) Sakura fare? This Sakura will also be annoying in a sense (all teenage girls are), but it definitely won't be focused on boys (aka Sasuke)


	2. A Devious Plan?

Really, I really am trying my best. Still having the same problems with format and all.

Disclaimer: I'll probably never, not in a million years, ever earn enough money to buy Naruto.

"Normal" – Spoken Dialogue

_'italic'_ – Internal Thoughts

**{Bold}** – Sakura's Inner self

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**A Devious Plan**

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Sakura scuffed the gray pebbles along the path leaving the academy, aggravated. _'Yet another test,'_ she ignored Naruto's attempts to get near to her. _'Here I thought we were done with all these silly tests after the academy.'_

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! So what are you going to do tomorrow, What's your plan?" Naruto interrupted her thoughts.

_'Do? What? Stategies? That's right…'_ She mused darkly. "Kakashi sensei did ask us to bring all our ninja gear, so there's bound to be a fight. Definitely not going to be your typical survival test…"

"Mou, I bet we'll have to fight each other! Maybe we'll have to fight him!"

"You might be right!" Sakura agreed reluctantly, garnering Sasuke's attention. "But he's a jounin, and we have only just graduated from the academy. We might have genin or chunnin capabilities, but he can't seriously expect us to fight and win a jounin, right? No, it's not right…"

"He even told us the place and all!" Suddenly looking crafty, Naruto added, "Maybe we can set some traps or something! We'll cover him in paint! That'll serve him right, dattebayo!"

Sakura looked even more thoughtful.

"But even with preparation, Dobe, he's still a jounin. Do you think he would fall for some genin's traps?" Sasuke retorted.

"Teme! He fell for my duster trick! He can't be that good!"

"Well, he could be letting YOU underestimate him!" Sasuke snorted. "Not that you're much of a challenge even without that."

"Actually, Sasuke has a point." Sakura interjected, cutting off Naruto's impending blow up. "It's not easy getting the rank of Jounin. He must be some good. We might have to work together to pass this test."

"Speak for yourself. I'm not working with anybody." Sasuke started walking off.

"Oh, so you're going back to the academy to become the #1 rookie for next year too?" Sakura countered snidely.

The black-haired ninja paused in his steps. "I don't need yours or that dobe's help to pass." He continued on his way.

Sakura sighed. She had really needed to recruit Sasuke's help. Dealing with Naruto alone would be exhausting and now without Sasuke's fighting prowess... _'But… There really isn't any choice is there? I do know my own capabilities, but even I'm not good enough to take on a jounin alone.'_

"So Sakura-chan, what's the plan?" Naruto asked enthusiastically, excited at the chance to work with his crush alone.

She sighed again. _'No choice, gotta use what I have. He might be really good at setting up traps though, with his reputation as a prankster. At the very least he would be a very good distraction.'_ Her mind made up, she replied, "We find out about our opponent, and prepare our battlefield." Her eyes gleaming, she started dragging the suddenly apprehensive blond boy to the library.

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The next morning, she woke up extra early, donning her normal training outfit, a dark red Chinese top and black shorts, packed a few ration bars. Setting out at a stroll to the appointed meeting place, her mind reviewed every plan that the pink and blond haired duo had set in place last night.

They only managed to find a little info on their sensei, Hatake Kakashi, in the local library. Apparently, he was also known as the copy ninja, possessing an arsenal of a thousand jutsu, all apparently copied by using a sharingan.

_'But he isn't an Uchiha. Which means he got it from some other means? Transplantation maybe?' _She shook her head. _'It doesn't matter. We just have to get the bells before he uses it. So let him underestimate us.'_

Asking around the village had proved more informative. From the chunnins she knew, she found out that Kakashi was well known as a lazy nin who while being constantly late, loved reading perverted literature. In fact his prized possession was Icha Icha Paradise.

Spending the last evening setting traps had been very productive too. Having a mental map of where every trap was located, she was rather hoping that Sasuke fell into a few as well. Seeing him covered in orange paint would be too amusing. Sakura and Naruto had managed to trade basic information about their own personal skills, setting up a rough plan for today.

Arriving at the training ground, the roseate perched on a boulder to wait and conserve energy. Closing her eyes, she meditated, waiting for the others to arrive. It wasn't long before two more chakra signals appeared, both belonging to her two teammates. Paying them no mind, she ignored them in favour of continuing her meditation, the Uchiha and Naruto leaving her be, Naruto because he learnt how hard she could hit during their preparation yesterday.

30 minutes turned into 3 hours. Naruto turned from grumbling into straight out pacing. Sakura twitched as she kept herself from punching him into the nearest tree. _'I need him, can't put him into the tree. Maybe afterwards. Dammit!'_ "NARUTO! Stop pacing!"

"But that damned lazy sensei isn't here yet!" He whined, stomach growling, turning around to continue pacing.

"Did you really think he would be early from what we found out yesterday?" Sakura sighed. "Here." She tossed him a ration bar. "You didn't eat did you? This should be enough to stop the hunger. I didn't think he would be on time."

"Sakura-chan! You're the best!" He gobbled down the bar.

"It's only because I need you at full energy later." She took out another bar, tossing it grudgingly to Sasuke. "Here. Unfortunately we're a team. If you lose we might lose too. Besides, I might laugh my head off if I see you lose because of hunger."

"Hnn." Sasuke unwrapped it and bit into it, quickly finishing.

_'Too proud to admit that he was also hungry I see.' _She scoffed. _'Not like we couldn't hear his stomach from a mile away. Then again, Naruto's was even worse. Men.'_

Caught up in her thoughts, she didn't sense Kakashi until he appeared suddenly in a cloud of smoke. _'This is happening way too often.' _She choked, waving away the smoke.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto chorused in unison.

"Maa, maa… Well, on the way here I saw this old lady carrying a lot of bags and had to help her. After that, there was a black cat, so I couldn't move into its path."

"Sensei, you're lying!" "Liar!" "Hn."

"Anyway," He took out an alarm clock and two bells. "You have until 12 o'clock to get a bell from me. The one who doesn't obtain one before will then be tied to the post and go without lunch." He pointed at three posts close by.

_'Hehe… Tell us not to eat to make us more desperate? Not bad, might've worked. But we wouldn't have failed this way...' _"Is there any other reason there are only two bells, sensei?"

"Oh, this is the fun part. There's only a 2/3 chance of passing this test, so at least one of you will fail and return to the Academy. Well, it's also possible that only one of you might pass or all three will fail."

Running mental math in her head, Sakura mused. _'Yesterday he mentioned it was a 66% failure rate. Which I took to mean 4 teams or 12 people will fail. Now he tells us it's even lower, probably a 33%- 99.9% failure rate?'_ She shook her head. _'No, it doesn't match up. How would they train more ninja? Why put us in teams in the first place?'_ "Sensei, are the other teams also taking the same test?" She asked with an innocent look on her face, green eyes opened widely.

Thinking that she wanted to complain about unfairness, he replied "Well, more or less."

_'Even if he's lying to us... It doesn't matter. Our plan is still in effect.' _She glanced at Naruto. _'Not that he remembers.'_ She hit him on the head, interrupting Naruto's imminent tirade.

"Sakura-chan! Why?"

"Stop it Naruto, it's about to start."

Getting the message, Naruto closed his mouth.

"By the way, all weapons, including shuriken are fair play." Kakashi dropped the bomb on them. "You will fail if you attempt this mission with anything less than killing intent."

"Shuriken? You're in trouble! You fell for such a simple trap yesterday!"

"Ah, class clowns are often the weakest link and that they don't pose a threat." Scratching his head, Kakashi added "In fact, weren't you dead last in the academy?"

"Naruto!" Sakura stopped the blond before he blew his top. "Wait."

Forcibly calming down, he stilled. Suddenly a bell rang out.

"Begin."

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Sakura watched the silver haired masked ninja from her hiding place up on one of the tallest trees. The plan is going smoothly. The fact she managed to stop Naruto from fighting the sensei meant that he remembered the plan. Right, so far so good. She closed her eyes and pinpointed Naruto's location with her senses. Right on time. Opening her eyes, she watched as Naruto fought the jounin one on one. _'Phase 1 complete.' _She noted as she saw Kakashi taking out his precious Icha Icha book. _'Target sighted.'_

The kunoichi winced as she witnessed Kakashi's glorified ass poke demonstrated on Naruto. _'Glad I'm not the one doing the distraction.'_

Quickly recovering from his impromptu fly into the lake, Naruto burst out from the water, attacking Kakashi with shadow clones. This had been a major factor in their plan. _'The fact that he could make solid clones…'_ She shuddered. _'He has massive chakra reserves. I could only make one with the technique he taught me and even that left me too drained.' _Sakura sighed._ 'All right, he did it! Target has been obtained and switched with decoy. Phase two complete, time to rendezvous.' _She snuck away from her position in the trees to their pre-decided meeting spot.

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"Damn! That perverted sensei ran away!"

Kakashi had switched himself with one of Naruto's clones using kawarimi no jutsu, leaving Naruto to fight against himself. _'It doesn't matter. The target was captured! Time to meet Sakura-chan! She'll be so happy with me, she might even go out on a date!' _With a dopey smile on his face, literally squealing like a girl, Naruto hurried along to their meeting place, fantasizing about his imagined date. Then he was distracted out of his thoughts by a glint? Straining his eyes, he saw a bell under a nearby tree!

"Lucky!" Without stopping to think, Naruto ran over and scooped up the bell, only to suddenly feel a rapid reversal of gravity. He had been caught by a rope trap and was now hanging upside down. _'Now this is just unfair. He manages to avoid my traps but I get caught in his.'_

"Tsk tsk." Kakashi appeared, reprimanding Naruto while waving his finger. "You would think, with the amount of traps you guys set around, you wouldn't get caught in such a basic and OBVIOUS one."

Sasuke, who had been tracking Kakashi, sensed an opportunity and attacked with a barrage of shuriken and kunai. Naruto watched in disbelief as he saw the deadly weapons pierce the scarecrow-nin falling to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Teme! That was overkill! Now we don't have a sensei anymore!"

"Quiet dobe! It's not over yet."

The dust cleared, revealing a shuriken and kunai pin-cushioned log. Sasuke scanned the perimeter warily, but Kakashi reappeared behind him almost without warning. Barely reacting in time, Sasuke blocked the attack with a kunai, sparking another fight.

With the attention off him, Naruto sneaked out a kunai and cut through the rope holding him in the trap. Falling to the ground, he simply activated another identical trap.

"You can't be kidding me! I'll get out, you can't stop the future hokage with this, dattebayo!" He yelled as he dangled from the second trap.

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After 10 minutes of waiting, Sakura idly wondered what had happened to Naruto. _'We had already obtained the target, so, unless he was caught…' _Internally sighing, she set off to rescue the idiot.

Just as she got up, she felt a chakra presence come into her sensing range. _'Kakashi sensei? His chakra's much weaker. Did they really manage to weaken him? No… Something's slightly off. Kinda like with Naruto and his… It's a shadow clone.' _She face palmed. Did he really think she was that weak? Sending off a clone to deal with her like that. Fine, be it that way. _'Should I play a weak little girl?'_ Feeling the slight changes in chakra, she snapped back to attention.

_'He creating something like a chakra field in the small clearing north of here, he must have noticed me heading in that direction.' She mulled. 'It seems to latch on my chakra and influence my five senses. A genjutsu perhaps?' _Smirking, Sakura walked straight into the field. _'Sure, underestimate me.'_

Nothing seemed out of place as she first stepped into the clearing, feeling the chakra settle onto her.

"Sakura, come here." A slimy, but familiar voice called. Freezing, she turn around, sighting a shadowy figure.

"You're not here! You're gone; you can make me do anything anymore!" She cried out, terrified. Her inner that was created ever since that incident long ago, suddenly waking up from slumber, howled. **{Shannaro! It's a genjutsu! Dispel it!}** _'I can't control… Can't disrupt the chakra…'_

"The longer you wait, the harder your punishment will be. You don't want that, do you?" The shadowy figure started approaching.

She started scrambling back at his approach. **{Snap out of it! Didn't you say you were going to be stronger? Or have you gone back against your word?} **Struggling, Sakura pushed herself up to her feet, forcing her shaking fingers to form the horse and tiger seals. _'I swore that day that no one would ever be able to do whatever they liked to me again!'_

"KAI!" The sound travelled and echoed across the suddenly empty clearing.

Panting, Sakura collapsed to the ground. _'That was a genjutsu that showed your deepest fears. I misjudged him, was too overconfident.' _Recovering, she rose. "I'll just have to prove my worth."

Trudging on, she stepped into another clearing, just in time to see Sasuke climb out of a narrow hole, and into… "Sasuke stop!"

Disregarding her, Sasuke continued and ground beneath him collapsed. "Argh!" Not managing to catch himself in time, he landed in a vat of orange paint with a big splash. She fought back full blown laughter, forgetting the earlier incident with Kakashi's genjutsu. _'Oh, Naruto is going to love this.'_

Naruto, as if summoned by her thoughts, appeared from the east, looking frazzled and holding up an orange book.

Wordlessly, Sakura pointed to an orange paint-dripping Sasuke who was yet again climbing out of a hole.

The blond boy's jaw dropped as he stared speechless for the next few seconds, just before he erupted into hysterical, body shaking, rolling on the floor, laughter.

"Sasuke, I have a proposition for you." Mentally calculating, she added, "We only have about 30 minutes left in the test."

"Hn."

"This jounin has been toying with us, looking down at us, treating us as if we're not worth his time. Are you going to let him step on you like that?" She watched him grind his teeth as she rubbed his failure in, "We have all failed alone. Going back to the academy would be worthwhile if we could just crush his ego. It's not about the bells anymore. It's personal."

"So. What."

"I propose that we work together to bring him down, then only later decide who gets the bells through a three way battle."

Sasuke appeared to be considering it.

"He's currently north from here, and we have the bulk of our traps set up there as well. You'll need to know where those traps are."

Seeing the change on his face, she added, "And we have a trump card." She held up the orange book triumphantly.

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_'Really, those genin have been quiet for the last 10 minutes.' _Kakashi lounged about. _'They don't have much time left. Ah, who cares?'_ He shrugged, mind returning to his favourite Icha Icha scenes.

"There you are!" The noisy blond ninja appeared, interrupting him just as he was reaching for his beloved orange book that was supposedly in his back pouch.

"Ah, the deadlast."

"You… You!" Naruto started shaking, trying to control his impulse to attack the masked jounin.

"Haven't learnt your lesson yet?"

Finally shattering his control, Naruto leapt at the ninja.

Behind a massive tree, Sakura convened with an orange-coloured Sasuke.

"I'm going to walk out and distract him. You and Naruto will get a chance at the bells. Don't waste it."

Taking out the orange Icha Icha book, she sauntered out to the field.

"Don't move Sensei, if you don't want anything to happen to this."

Suddenly freezing, Kakashi craned his neck over to her, eyes widening and face paling when he spotted the orange book.

"If you do anything to it…"

Opening the book and holding it as if poised to tear it, Sakura interjected, "Why Sensei, would you be so concerned about this old thing?"

As she moved as if to tear the book in half, Kakashi panicked, appearing behind her and snatching the book away. Taking the opportunity, she tried to swipe at the bells, but he dodged agilely.

"Good try."

"Sensei, what makes you think that's the real book? Do you think I'm so stupid as to take out the original at the first go?" Kakashi froze again as she took out yet another book. "NOW!"

Naruto and Sasuke appeared simultaneously at the opposite sides of the jounin, knocking him into a nearby trap. The trap triggered, causing a log to swing by and a barrage of senbon with Kakashi managing to dodge them with little effort. He paused yet again when she pretended to start ripping the pages. Taking advantage of that, Naruto activated his clone that was acting as the replacement book, and managed to startle and restrain Kakashi for a second. Just long enough for Sasuke to pilfer the bells.

Quickly retreating to the other side of the field, the genins celebrated their victory as the bell signaling noon rang. _'In the nick of time.'_ Sakura almost slumped in relief.

"Sensei, please wait awhile, we agreed on something." She set her shoulders resolutely and moved to the middle of the field near a stone pillar where she settled the bells on the ground. Sakura nodded at Sasuke and Naruto, and they formed a triangle formation about 50 metres away from each other at every end with the bells in the middle.

Kakashi could only watch dumbfounded as they leapt at each other, apparently fighting free for all. _'What did they… Why did they…?'_

Finally having enough, Kakashi exploded, "STOP! Someone explain what's going on."

Temporarily halting, the three 12-year olds looked at each other, and Sakura stepped forward, having apparently been elected unanimously.

"Sensei, we agreed earlier that we would work together to get the bells and only later decide who would get to keep it."

Sighing, Kakashi palmed his forehead, rubbing it to sooth his sudden headache. _'This team just had to be darned complex did they?'_

Sighing out loud yet again, he proclaimed, "You all pass."

"EH?" A collective exclamation from the three new genins sounded out.

"The point of the test was teamwork." He admitted, still trying to figure out how they managed to set aside their differences to team up. "And you did work together to get the bells."

"But only two bells?" Sakura questioned, still confused.

"It was meant to see if any of you could place the team above yourselves."

The three genins seemed to droop and wilt and that revelation.

"We really only meant to beat you, sensei." Sakura confessed.

"Maa, maa… Insignificant little details. Anyway, you've passed."

Moving to the stone pillar near the middle of the field, he waved them over. "Look at this. The names of some of the village's greatest warriors are engraved upon this." He stated with reverence, cutting into their victory celebration.

Breaking the silence, Naruto burst out, "I will get my name there too one day, dattebayo!"

"Every name on that pillar, every person, has sacrificed their life for the village." Kakashi responded quietly, almost muttering, stunning Naruto into silence. Pulling himself out of the melancholy mood, he stated, "You are the first team to ever pass my test and now you are now officially my students." Adopting a serious face, he continued, "Remember this, one of a ninja's most important rules. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

"We will meet at 8 tomorrow morning for training. I need a full assessment on your capabilities." He started muttering to himself about how their appearances and records were deceiving, stating something about evilness in pink hair and his Precious.

"Oh, by the way, why is Sasuke orange?"

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Author's note:

Hehehe.. What will happen now that Kakashi's actually properly motivated? Hope you guys like my spin on the survival test. How bout a trailer? =P

_He looked at them, frustrated. "You lack strength, only versed in basic academy taijutsu and some bastardized mix of other styles." Pointing to the blond, he continued, "Your taijutsu is an atrocious brawling form, balance off, and worst, you just rush your opponents, not thinking." "And you, have no teamwork, your ego could fill the room and crush us all."He kept quiet for a few seconds, eyes suddenly gleaming with malice, feeling vindicated when he felt his new students shrink back in fear. 'This is revenge for stealing MY Precious.' Mentally cackling like an insane asylum escapee, he added, "I'm going to work you all to the ground."_

So please read and review!


	3. My Precious: Kakashi's Attempted Revenge

I am just about freaking frustraaaatteeedd~! If you are reading this, be grateful. My thumb drive hates this chapter. **Seriously**. It ate the same file two freaking times. I had to rewrite this three damned times! If I wasn't so pig-headed stubborn about actually finishing this story, I might have given up by now, with all my creative juices drained dry. There's only so many times a girl can stomach rewriting a chapter which by all rights should have been completed and published a few days ago. I hate my thumb drive. It probably hates me too.

Author Status: Becoming fat by consuming chocolate in an attempt to feel better about having to write this chapter for the 3rd time.

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Disclaimer: The world has no justice. No, I don't own Naruto.

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_'Italic'_ – internal thoughts

"Normal"- spoken words

**{Bold} **- Inner Sakura

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**My Precious – Kakashi's Attempted Revenge**

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The new day dawned early and bright, the morning sun gently warming the occupants of the hidden village of Konohagakure. The rays of sunshine filtered through the leaves of the trees near Kakashi's apartment complex, creating a myriad of colours, the leaves itself creating a halo glowing with the colours of green, yellow and orange around the trees. It was just another typical day in the village, with birds singing in the background, yet to be disturbed by the busy village life. Kakashi paid no mind to the sights and sounds as he exited his apartment, his mind too preoccupied with his plans. As he was cutting through the market, villagers glimpsed the sight of Kakashi with an orange book cradled protectively.

"I shall never let them get their grubby little paws on you again, my Precious…" They could hear him muttering to the book as he strode past, his sanity having temporarily taken leave.

Even the civilians could feel the aura of malevolence surrounding him, radiating from the masked jounin like a cloud, shrilly alerting their survival instinct with the urgency of a fire alarm. The bystanders gave him a large berth of space, parting like the red sea before him, but all of Kakashi's attention was fixed on the orange book in his arms as he softly crooned to it. "No, darling, they shall learn their lesson."

All the onlookers immediately turned away, pretending to be preoccupied, some even to the extent of quietly slipping away as Kakashi broke out in a fit of maniacal laughter, before stopping almost as abruptly and continuing on his way to the red bridge, leaving them immersed in the feeling of relief from not having attracted his attention or potential wrath.

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Sakura rose early, before the sun was up, according to her normal routine. She couldn't stop the elation that coursed through her when she recalled yesterday's events. She headed towards training ground 115 with an inadvertent smile on her face, geared up for a light training before Kakashi's assessment.

Engrossed in the training, her mind wondered during the repetitive movements. She couldn't help analyzing the moves she made yesterday.

'_Even though everything turned out alright… I still made so many mistakes. Falling for that genjutsu, being too overconfident… '_ Her face started to sour during the assessment of her recollection.

'_Naruto has amazing stamina and a massive chakra reserve; he must have made almost a hundred of those solid clones yesterday and still had the energy to fight Kakashi for long periods of time afterwards.'_, Wincing as she remembered her attempt to make the shadow clone. _'Sasuke was from a clan, born and bred with larger reserves and stamina as well; and his repertoire of jutsu and taijutsu are far better than us.'_ **{Don't forget the rumour about the Uchiha library.},** Inner Sakura gave her input, **{Filled with information about the fighting styles and jutsu of the Five Elemental Countries copied with the Sharingan.} **They were both almost salivating at the thought of so much information. _'But this rate, they will both surpass me in no time. I've worked so hard and yet…'_ Riled, she punched the training post she was practicing on with so much force that the training post actually shook and splintered.

'_I'm not going to let them best me! I'll work even harder. Just because I'm from a civilian family doesn't mean that I'm weaker.'_ Now pacified, she completed her light training with zeal. _'I am stronger than that.'_

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Kakashi hid amongst the leaves of a tree nearby the red bridge. He could spy his unwary three new students lounging on the bridge, waiting for him. _'I can almost taste the sweetness of vengeance. So close…'_ Eight o'clock. Should he show up now or…? _'I'll let them sweat a bit.'_ He decided, settling on the branch he was perched on, partially to finish the chapter he was in the middle of and observe his students.

'But they're being rather boring, aren't they?' He observed their relaxed postures, the pink one with her eyes closed and Sasuke and Naruto apparently in another argument. Unable to wait any longer, he used his signature transportation jutsu, taking care to overpower it to produce more smoke than usual.

Letting them choke on the smoke, he waited patiently for the inevitable. Instead, he was met with incredulous stares.

"It's an imposter!" He received glares and suspicious looks.

"Maa, maa. How can I be an imposter?"

"Kakashi-sensei would never come just ten minutes late!" Naruto accused, stabbing his finger at the masked nin.

"Oh, is it? Shall I demonstrate the Thousand Years of Pain technique on you again to prove my identity?" Kakashi asked indolently, half tempted to execute it anyway.

"Eh heh." Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly. "It is Kakashi-sensei."

"Glad I got that sorted out. Now follow me."

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He was only ten minutes late. That fact was ringing alarm bells in Sakura's head. There was no way. In all the information they had discovered about the jounin yesterday, everything pointed to the fact that he was usually at least two hours late. In fact, even the Sandaime Hokage had resorted to summoning Kakashi two hours ahead of briefings in order to get him there somewhat on time.

It wasn't an imposter, Naruto had proven that satisfactorily. His chakra levels indicated it wasn't a Kage Bunshin. So what was up?

Still immersed in her thoughts, she simply followed as Kakashi led them to a clearing in the forest. _'The same training ground as yesterday?'_ Suspicious, she scanned the grounds, her eyes darting to various spots, quickly picking out a few inconsistencies after consulting her mental maps. _'Our traps yesterday, some are still there, but some have been moved or removed? There are a few new ones as well. What is Kakashi-sensei up to?'_ Noting the locations of the traps, she noted that most of them were near trees marked with red flags. **{Shall we run our unsuspecting teammates into it?}**

"A hundred laps around perimeter marked with red flags." Kakashi jolted her out of her musings.

"What? That must be at least half a mile each!" Naruto burst out.

"It's one mile actually." Kakashi shrugged uncaringly.

Naruto flared-up, arguing with the nin. Sakura took the opportunity to approach Sasuke.

"A race. We never decided the strongest yesterday."

"Hn."

She took that as Uchiha speak for agreement. Turning to where Naruto was arguing with the sensei, she yanked hard on the blond's ear. "Naruto-baka, hurry up. We're racing."

"Itai!" He complained, rubbing his ear, "Sakura-chan, it is a hundred miles!" It distracted him from a relieved looking Kakashi.

"Well, Sasuke and I are racing," She started, with a guileless look on her face. "If you're not up to it, then I'll just have to do it alone with him." The roseate added coyly.

"No way! Let's go bastard!" Naruto challenged the raven-haired genin.

"Glad you guys have finished your gossiping." Kakashi was immediately hit with three incensed glares. "Alright, begin."

The three darted out, Sasuke swiftly gaining the lead with Naruto dogging his steps. Sakura on the other hand adopted a slightly more leisurely pace, content to let the other two fight it out for now. This pattern continued for fifty rounds, before Kakashi decided that they were exhausted enough, and started setting off the traps he prepared.

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"Teme, I'm catching up!"

Sasuke grimaced almost imperceptibly. That dobe had managed to stick to him stubbornly, not even faltering more than a few steps when he had increased his speed. His obstinate persistence was frankly very annoying. The blond had been pestering him almost non-stop for fifty laps now, and he was almost at the boiling point.

"Bastard, you can't lose me!"

He snapped. "As if you can beat me, dead-last!"

This sparked an argument while they were running through a narrow path down a steep hill, each routinely shoving the other, hoping to put off the other's pace. One particularly hard shove unbalanced Naruto, sending him diving headfirst to the ground, crashing into Sasuke, unwittingly tripping a hidden ninja wire in process.

Sasuke pushed the boy off him to the side, feeling a sense of déjà vu. Luckily for Naruto, this act inadvertently saved the blond from a cascade of kunai and shuriken. Onyx eyes widened at the onslaught, its owner quickly rolling to the side, barely avoiding the second torrent. Both boys scrambled to their feet, kunais whipped out ready to deal with another barrage of weapons. They sighed in relief when it seemed to be the end.

"Hah! That was no match for the future Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto exclaimed.

Sasuke whacked him on the head. "Dobe, you set off the trap! I had to save you!"

Another argument ensued. An ominous rumbling sound slowly rose in volume behind them. They both temporarily halted their disagreement, looking around warily.

"Did you hear that, teme?"

"Shut up dobe." Straining his ears to hear, the sound was becoming louder?

"Run!"

Naruto wisely did not argue, sprinting with Sasuke as a large boulder the size of a small house crashed through the undergrowth of the forest ground. Both craning their heads back and spied the boulder.

"Ahh!"

They could only boost their speed desperately, only now noticing the wickedly sharp rocks lining both sides of the path they, and the boulder, were on. Frantic, Naruto spotted a branch further away, its height higher than the boulder.

"Teme, up!"

They both leapt with all their strength, catching hold of the branch, pulling themselves up hurriedly, and holding on for their life as the boulder continued rolling by, eventually hitting and demolishing a huge tree. Saved, they dropped down from the branch.

"Hahahaha… Try to… Huge boulder… Kakashi…" Naruto was overcome with hysterical laughter, fuelled by adrenaline and relief. "We won!"

Sasuke could only smirk, the corners of his lips upturned slightly. In a rare show of generosity, he hauled the blond to his feet. "Enough dobe, don't fall behind."

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Meanwhile, nearby in a tree, busy enjoying his Icha Icha book, Kakashi wondered out loud, "I wonder if I went too overboard?"

He turned the page, giggling perversely at the images in his book. "Meh."

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A little further away, Sakura had been steadily completing her laps unaware of the boys' predicament. She had been nimbly avoiding most of the traps so far, staging it to look like it was by accident or luck, only falling for one without a genjutsu that used a very well hidden ninja-wire that launched a few easily avoided kunai.

Deciding it had been long enough, she changed the tempo of her strides chewing up the distance, rapidly catching up with the other two genin who were recovering from the adrenaline rush.

"Sakura-chan, you won't believe what happened this now!"

"Don't call me Sakura-chan." She stated, not having the need to butter him up and the moment.

"But, Sakura-chan," he was incorrigible; "You don't know what happened this now. There was this trap with a huge boulder," He indicated with his arms spread out wide, nearly hitting Sasuke with his enthusiastic gesture, "and I saved the bastard's ass!"

"You did not save me, dobe. You set off the trap in the first place!" Sasuke countered, annoyed yet again by the immature blond.

This broke their fragile truce, sparking another fight. Sakura only rolled her eyes and continued on past them, unnoticed by either boy.

Completing another lap without triggering another trap, she met up with them again. The two were now ignoring each other, yet stubbornly keeping up with each other's pace. The signs of fatigue were now showing on them, the dirt with stray twigs and leaves evidence of being inconvenienced by a few traps. _'Naruto probably got them caught in a few traps.' _She smirked._ 'It's time to up the level.'_

Sidling up to them she remarked on their appearance. "You're looking a bit under the weather," she plucked a twig off Sasuke's hair, twirling it around her fingers. "Looks like you had some trouble. Did that happen to slow you down?"

Sasuke almost visibly bristled at that assumption, involuntarily taking in Sakura's nearly immaculate if sweaty appearance. He almost immediately sped up with Naruto following suit. They rushed off, heading into the clearing where Sakura had spotted a newly set up trap. _'It's probably a genjutsu, judging by the chakra.'_ She quickly decided to let them handle it while she took a short break.

She leaned against a tree and smiled as she took in the entertainment. Really, she had to commend Kakashi's imagination with the genjutsu.

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"Ramen, come back!" Naruto pleaded with the ramen-filled bowl that had sprouted legs and was running away from him.

No matter how hard he tried, the bowl kept getting further away from him. Smelling another bowl of ramen closer to him, he turned around quickly. He pounced on it, to no avail, as it turned into a bowl of vegetables. The vegetables hopped out of the bowl, the green horrors latching onto him, chasing him yelling, "Eat me!"

"Noooooooo!"

He turned tail and ran, with the leafy monstrosities close behind.

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A sea of miso soup suddenly swamped Sasuke, driving him deep under its waves. He exerted his strength to kick back up to the surface, choking and gasping on the soup. Taking a look around him, he saw a sea of miso soup and giant noodles? Ramen?

His jaw dropped in disbelief, causing him to accidentally swallow yet another mouth of the nauseating soup. How did he get stuck in a giant bowl of ramen? He swam, trying to avoid objects like vegetables and noodles that were swirling around him. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his leg. A noodle had somehow managed to wrap around his leg without his notice! The soup suddenly created a vortex, the swirling whirlpool dragging him down into its depths with ramen ingredients sweeping past him faster and faster. Futilely, he tried to stay abreast of the soup, evading as many obstacles as he could.

A fishcake with a swirl on top swept past. _'Naruto?'_

"This is probably all the dobe's fault! I'm dreaming of his ramen and swirls!" He suddenly realized. "Dream… No! Genjutsu!"

"Kai!"

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She felt the chakra field falter and vanish abruptly with the burst of Sasuke's chakra, dissipating Kakashi's chakra. Her five minute break is up. Rested, she stretched languidly, starting a jog past the two recovering genins. Sasuke had turned a lovely shade of green, fighting the urge to puke, while Naruto was on the ground, mourning the loss of his ramen. She breezed past them easily, catching up with them entirely by the end of the 90th round.

By then, the boys were nearly collapsing from exhaustion whilst the roseate Nin was feeling the strain of the exertion.

'_It's not fair.'_ She was almost audibly panting, something she wouldn't allow herself to do in front of that arrogant Uchiha. _'Even with all that training, I really am only at the same level as them.'_

The three kept pace with each other, not letting any take the lead. The silence was almost deafening, not even Naruto having the energy to talk. The feeling of relief as they finished the last round was tangible. Team 7 promptly collapsed to the ground in sync, breathing heavily. The movements of their chests, up and down taking in precious air, were the only sign of life from the three unmoving bodies on the forest floor.

"Ha... Ah hah..." Naruto gasped, "That was fun... We should... Do it again."

"You idiot." Sakura would have shrieked if she had any energy. Instead, she found it amusing, managing to pull up a slight smile.

Sasuke only smirked, all signs of previous exertions already hidden behind his stoic mask.

They lay on the ground in a comfortable silence before it was broken by the sound and smoke of a transportation jutsu.

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"Yo!" The unwelcome intruder greeted. "Stop being lazy and do a hundred push ups."

'If looks could kill, I would already be dead a few times over,' Kakashi mused. 'I didn't think that anybody's glare could be worse than an Uchiha's.' He mentally gave intimidation points to the pink haired kunoichi.

His two other students had already subdued Naruto's whining and complaining, starting the push ups with minimal fuss, though he'll gander that he'll be avoiding some assassination attempts in the future if those dark looks were any indication.

He marvelled at the sheer stubbornness of his three students, their refusal to show their exhaustion to him evident.

"I am actually slightly impressed." He praised them, temporarily forgetting about his ongoing feud with his students, as they completed the 100th push up. "Though you guys should have been much faster." He received their renewed glares. "As a reward, I'll teach you something."

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**{That lazy jounin is actually going to teach us something?} **Inner Sakura was hopping with joy in Sakura's head. Sakura forgot her exhaustion, almost jumping to her feet as she listened intently to the jounin.

He went through the mechanics of chakra control, frustrating her as they had to slow down to re-explain the whole concept to Naruto. **{That was taught in the academy, Shannaro!}**

She was disappointed when the jounin only walked up the tree. _'Tree walking? I completely mastered that a month ago.'_ She didn't move as the boys rushed up on their attempts.

"Why aren't you trying it?" Kakashi questioned her as she remained stationary for the next few minutes.

She sighed. "Sensei, I learnt that last month." Without another word, she walked to the top of the nearest tree some twenty feet high, somersaulting off it to land on the ground without a sweat.

'_The goldfish look really suits the boys.'_ She was gratified at the stunned looks of her teammates who haven't passed the three-foot mark yet, Naruto even exploding off the tree once, using too much chakra.

"Sakura-chan is awesome!"

Sasuke merely sulked, rushing the tree with renewed vigour.

"Well, it seems that Sakura is more advanced you other two. So I'll be bringing her for advanced training." Kakashi decided to Sasuke's revulsion. Before they could protest, he grabbed her and initiated a transportation jutsu.

'_I really hate that jutsu.'_ Sakura fought off the lingering nausea from the sudden transportation. _'A lake?'_

"Now, who taught you?" The masked jounin questioned.

"No one really. I watched the village genins, researched a bit in the library, asked a few people..."

"You practiced alone?"

"Yes."

"Don't do that anymore. Practicing jutsu or chakra control techniques alone without knowing the proper technique is dangerous. Then again, you did have some idea, didn't you?"

Sakura tried to play dumb, feigning a clueless look at that.

"That genjutsu trap, and a few traps before that." Kakashi continued, "You avoided all that contained chakra, only getting caught by the few that didn't and were very well hidden."

**{He knows or at least suspects.}** _'We may as well come clean.'_

"I can sort of feel chakra." Sakura admitted. "It started after I got better at meditation."

He walked onto the lake. "Tell me what you feel."

Stunned at the feat, Sakura nearly did not respond. Taking control of herself, she forcibly calmed herself, breathing in and out with measured breaths. Focussing on her sensei, she extended her senses to his feet.

There was a chakra output just like tree walking, but the output wasn't steady. It was constantly regulating?

"I didn't think you could walk on anything that wasn't solid." Sakura admitted, slightly downcast at missing a earlier training opportunity. "But your chakra is constantly adjusting to the water?"

"Yes. I take it that you haven't seen this before.

She shook her head, stepping out to the water to try. Her foot sunk in before she could adjust her chakra output. She hurriedly regulated her chakra, managing to stay on top of the water, not sinking. The green eyed girl took a shaky step forward towards her sensei, getting used to the required chakra control.

"This requires good control, but I see you've almost completely got it down."

She nodded, too preoccupied to answer.

"You are dismissed once you have managed three laps around the lake."

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Kakashi shook his head bemusedly as he watched his pink haired protégé complete yet another lap around the lake.

He had expected a skilled Uchiha, a powerhouse and a close to useless kunoichi. How his expectations have been exceeded. He almost hadn't noticed how she had avoided all his chakra laid traps, her execution of it being close to flawless. Any other bystander would have only believed in her luck.

'_But from a civilian family and only self taught?_' He shook his head again. _'This is almost ridiculous! It's like Tsunade-hime as a child.'_ Chewing his lip, he reflected on it. _'I can't only get her to learn genjutsu and med-ninjutsu, that's a waste, her taijutsu and speed is quite good. But it's a start.'_ His mind made up, he got up to check on his other students. _'It looks like they'll be able to keep up with each other, weaknesses, strength and all.'_

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It had been a long day. Sure, he was only lounging for most of it, being entertained by his students' antics through the ordeal, but that was only a minor detail. No, he had been truly surprised by them.

Honestly, he had expected the girl to collapse after a few laps, leaving only the boys. Then he had expected Naruto to either quit or get caught in one of his traps and give up. He had higher expectations for the Uchiha and it was met, but the other two simply exceeded it. The blond was equally stubborn as the Uchiha, refusing to admit defeat, looking to Sasuke as a rival and perhaps even a comrade. The girl could be a genius. Her chakra control made up for the kunoichi's naturally smaller chakra reserve, giving her an opportunity to stand head to head with the other nin.

He was going to have to revise his opinions and plans for his genin team. At first he was only going to laze around, but now... He was going to train and taunt them while lazing around. _'I wonder what Gai would do if my students beat his in the chuunin exams.' _He rubbed his hands in glee as he imagined the bowl-haired green clad ninja in defeat. _'This has potential. I guess I could forgive them this once.'_

He pulled out his orange book lovingly and headed back to his apartment without sparing another thought for his three students still training at the forest.

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It had been a long day. Sakura lay in her bed, unmoving. She had been sore from the head to toe ever since the adrenaline ran out. But she had continued pushing herself ever since Kakashi left; only stopping for lunch.

It was dangerous, she knew, pushing herself to this extent. She had almost completely drained her chakra, even with her precise control. She knew that, and yet... _'I am dumb. It would only get worse if I push myself too hard. I'm not like Naruto; I can't just bounce back after everything.' _She remembered how the boys had seemingly fully recovered after the push ups. _'But,' _she smiled, _'I kick ass anyway.'_

All in all, she was satisfied with how she surpassed her limits today. Maybe staying on this team will be worthwhile after all.

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Authors note:

I've somehow managed to complete this after a long holiday (a week) plus a whole lot of frustration from losing my chapters to my thumb drive. I have long since changed my thumb drive and will hopefully be able to complete chapters faster in the future.

Please be kind to the mistakes here, I haven't been able to stomach reading over it more than once. Let me know about any mistakes and I'll fix it =)

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Preview:

_Team 7 embarks on their very first C-class mission after many frustrating D-class missions. Catching a cat, baby-sitting, and gardening? Not for us! They leave for a perilous journey of self-growth and learning. Sakura decides...?_


	4. My Precious: Charging Forward

I'm in the groove, I'm in the groove, I'm in the groove! Yippee! Heh, just feeling happy today, so I decided to start the chapters faster than normal =) Thank me, review!

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This chapter is actually part of the arc I started with the previous chapter, the My Precious arc.

Princess-Kally actually pointed out something from the last chapter that I would like to stress. The three genins in the past chapter finished the race at the same time. Actually, the main reason of having this plot was to show how stubborn (or equally stubborn) they were. The second was to point out the natural weaknesses of kunoichi (women) against shinobi (men). Sure, Sakura's chakra control is phenomenal, but she still has lower stamina (even after all her training) compared to the guys. The fact that all three tied even after the guys got caught in so many traps? Naruto has boundless stamina, bouncing back after getting caught so often in all the traps. Sasuke has skill, breaking out of many of those traps with minimal fuss. So yes, all three have their individual strengths and weaknesses. Sakura is no superwoman.

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Disclaimer: I'm twiddling my thumbs, wiggling my fingers, closed my eyes, prayed. Opening one, I see… Nope, still don't own Naruto.

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'_Italic'_ – internal rants

"Normal" – spoken rants

**{Bold}** – split personality's rants

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**Charging Forward  
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"What mission should I give you next?" An old man wearing a conical hat and robes mused, fingering his beard. "Hmm… Perhaps babysitting Kota-sama's grandchildren?" He leafed through a pile of mission requests.

"That sucks!" A loud burst of complaints were broadcasted through a loud-mouth blond to the village leader, the Hokage.

It had been a long arduous month of repetitive training, missions and more training again in unending cycles. _'This would not have been bad,'_ Sakura thought sourly_, 'If it had not been just D-class missions.'_

Honestly, D-class missions should not be considered missions at all, only glorified chores. So far, Team 7 had been babysitting some councillor's brats, dog-walking huge dogs, gardening and catching the same God-damned cat five times. '_Damn that cat, Tora and its owner, Madam Shijimi, the wife of the Fire Country's Daimyo.' _It had gotten to the point where even Sasuke was close to losing his famous stoic-ness. Even Kakashi-sensei was bored; he had been playing around with the intensity of their training to entertain himself. **{Then again, that could be because of all the whining Naruto is singlehandedly producing, cha!}**

"Hokage-jiji! Give us a better mission damn it!"

And now, they were in the missions' room at the Hokage Tower, with the Hokage surrounded with many stacks of paperwork at a desk at the centre of the room. Sakura found herself cheering on Naruto who was annoying the Sandaime into giving them a higher ranked mission, not caring about the disrespect he was showing. Even Sasuke had a slight smirk on his face, letting the blond do the dirty work.

"Naruto, be respectful!" Iruka-sensei who was holding a stack of forms behind of the Hokage, stepped forward, lecturing him about the different missions. Uninterested, Team 7 tuned him out, far more interested in planning their next training session.

Chuckling, the Hokage cut in before Iruka-sensei could launch another incensed rant. "I see you have been training hard. How about I give you a C-class mission?"

"Finally Jiji! What will it be? Saving a Princess, go on a treasure hunt, save the world?" Naruto postulated wildly, Sasuke inching away from the threat of being nailed by the blond's enthusiastic waving arms.

"Ask Tazuna-san to come in." The Sandaime gestured to the chuunin guarding the door.

The odour of alcohol wafted in as a slightly drunk man stepped into the room.

"This is Tazuna-san who you will be escorting."

The client, Tazuna-san, was fifty or sixty year old with spectacles, gray hair and a slight beard.

"I am the Master Bridge-Builder, Tazuna!" Tazuna proclaimed, striking a pose.

"You are to protect his life while he finishes building his bridge." The Hokage continued.

"That's so lame! How about something cooler? Give me one with a princess!" Naruto objected, interjecting.

"Who's that shrimp in orange?"

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"You're probably the first genin who got thrown out of the Hokage's office, dobe."

"Don't complain teme! That guy insulted me, and you wanted a cooler mission too!"

Sakura only sighed and turned her attention back to the medical scroll Kakashi gave her, trying to ignore them, as the two began bickering and fighting yet again. **{Those guys…} **_'You would think they would get tired of it after a month. But no…'_

Fed up, she turned around to ask Kakashi-sensei… _'He's gone. He ran away from the problem again.'_ Turning back, she looked at the boys, still bickering. A tic started forming on her head. After a few more moments, she couldn't take it anymore and snapped, exuding a scary aura. Closing her medical scroll, she stomped up to them and smacked the two on the head with the scroll with loud thwacks.

"Enough!" Her aura was starting to turn into killing intent as she began to channel Inner Sakura. "Shannaro! If I hear another word of complaint from either one of you…" She trailed off, her eyes gleaming with malice implying her threat. The boys, thoroughly cowed, gulped nervously, Sasuke trying hard to school his face from showing his fear of the pink headed girl. "We meet at the village gate in an hour." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Now get going!"

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"Eh heh…" Kakashi laughed nervously as he watched his students from the nearby roof he escaped to. "Remind me never to cross her." He spoke to the orange book in his arms, shivering slightly.

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There must be a blue moon tonight, because Kakashi was waiting at the gate with the client on time as they arrived. He even involuntarily quivered once, eying her like she was going to explode. The masked nin turned away quickly when she gave him The Eye.

Naruto almost immediately started arguing with Tazuna at the gate, squabbling continuously for an hour after they left Konoha, travelling through the forest surrounding it. Behind them, two shadowy figures followed, taking advantage of the commotion.

'_Can't they just give it a rest? This is worse than him with Sasuke!'_ Sakura tried futilely to drown them out, focusing on the greenery and wildlife around them. **{That geezer is like a kid instead of an old man. Can't they both shut up, Shannaro!} **She winced at a particularly loud shout, focusing harder on the environment. _'A tree, another tree, a bird… Shadows?' _She stretched out her senses._ 'There's nothing.' _She dismissed it as a fluke as the hollering from the two annoyances brought her back to reality. But then when she squeezed her eyes tight to meditate, drowning them out, she sensed she walked over something on the ground with chakra? She opened her eyes. It was a puddle?

She turned to Kakashi-sensei quickly, trying to signal him. Catching his eye, he merely nodded knowingly. 'He knows. Then why?'

He didn't even bother moving out of the way when two dark figures emerged from it and ambushed him. They wielded a shuriken chain, attached to their left and right arms respectively, which they wrapped around Kakashi-sensei, slicing him into shreds in a gruesome show of blood and chunks of flesh. Naruto was paralyzed with horror at the sight.

'_Genjutsu! He's alright.'_ Sakura quickly reacted, warding off some poisoned kunai headed for Naruto and their client.

"Move, Idiot!"

Naruto snapped to attention just in time as one of the dark shrouded ninja rushed him. He managed to parry the attack, giving Sasuke a chance to immobilize the ninja, pinning their chains to a tree with a kunai.

Next to Naruto, Sakura quickly took out some ninja wire. "Ready? Don't freeze this time. Kakashi-sensei's alright."

"Me freeze? Sakura-chan…" He pouted, recovered from the shock after the reassurance.

They moved further apart, still standing in a triangle formation front of Tazuna-san, ready to counter the threat. Unable to hold the chain to the tree for long, Sasuke snapped it, getting rid of it but unfortunately also letting the ninja loose.

Instead of attacking Sasuke, the two enemy ninja rushed towards Naruto, Sakura and Tazuna-san extending claws that were dripping with poison.

"Don't get scratched by those things!" Sakura managed to warn Naruto and Sasuke as she took on the ninja wearing a cloak, dodging and darting around him speedily a few times with her ninja wire whilst countering his claws with her kunai. She had fortified the wire with her chakra, deterring the clawed ninja from cutting it. Finished, she leapt a little further away, pulling the ninja wire with as much force as she could manage. This tightened the loops of wire around the nin, binding his arms and legs tightly to his body. Unable to balance, the nin fell to ground face down, unable to break free from the chakra-laced wire as she gave another mighty tug. Sakura flitted in, hitting a pressure point at the back of the ninja's head with the butt of her kunai to render him unconscious.

"Naruto, Sasuke?"

"We're done, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto had distracted the ninja with twenty kage bunshins, all attacking the ninja at once, with Sasuke using that as a distraction to sneak up behind from the ninja, disarming him and slamming him into the ground. Naruto's Kage bunshins then dog-piled the ninja, beating the nin up. The blond had created even more bunshins before joining the fray himself.

Sakura sweat dropped at the sight. _'Overkill.' _She turned back to the sweating and trembling bridge builder after hogtying the unconscious ninja she had defeated prevent any escape.

"You have a lot to explain." Kakashi-sensei finally made his appearance, cutting in before she could reassure the bridge builder.

"But, you…" Tazuna was stammering, unable to believe his eyes.

"It was a nice genjutsu, yes?"

Tazuna looked at the place where Kakashi was shredded, spotting a cut up log. "Oh." He seemed to slump into himself with relief.

"Good use of your chakra control Sakura, good job Sasuke and you too Naruto, after you got over the shock."

"Hey! I beat up that guy!" Naruto began grumbling.

Kakashi merely ignored him, speaking to Tazuna-san again. "Why are they after you?"

"I… I don't know what you mean…" Tazuna's voice was wavering, trying desperately to avoid answering.

"I expected the ambush. There hasn't been any rain for a few days." He pointed at the puddle. "I let them attack to see who they were targeting." The silver haired jounin went silent allowing Tazuna to digest the information. Seeing the panicked look in his eyes, he continued, "After they 'annihilated' the main threat, me, they went straight for you."

The bridge-builder's hands were now shaking.

"You knew they were coming after you. Those are the Demon Brothers, chuunin level missing nin from the Mist. This should be a B-class mission or above. So why did you only commission a C-class mission?"

"I… There was no choice." Tazuna bowed his head. "Have you heard of a man named Gato?"

Sakura cut in. "Gato as in Gato Shipping?"

Tazuna nodded miserably. "Yes, he is responsible for this. You see Wave Country has been very poor ever since he took over the country's trade."

"How can he do that?" Naruto burst out, outraged.

"What about the feudal lords?" Sakura asked, not believing nobody had done something about it.

"He killed off all his opposition." The Bridge-Builder looked depressed, a faraway look in his eye as if he were remembering something extremely unpleasant. "Even the feudal lords don't dare cross him now." He slumped down further into himself. "Even they don't have the money for a B-class mission now." The gray haired man looked beseechingly at them. "It took all our combined savings just for this C-class mission."

"Sensei?" The genin looked to their teacher for an answer.

"As their teacher, I am responsible for them." Kakashi gestured to Team 7. "I cannot under conscience allow them to continue this mission. The next ninja that Gato sends will be a jounin, especially since we have defeated the two chuunins."

Tazuna then turned to the genins and tried to convince them. "I have a grandson at home…"

Sakura turned a deaf ear to the elder man's pleadings, reflecting on the situation. _'It is going to be very dangerous if we continue.'_ She chewed on her lip, her mind going over the many possible scenarios. _'It was true that we did defeat those chuunins, but going against a jounin? We haven't been able to defeat Kakashi-sensei, even when he wasn't serious.'_ The memories of those painful training sessions after the survival test flashed past, Kakashi trumping them each time. _'We couldn't even lay a hand on him if he didn't let us.'_

They were in a very precarious position if they agreed to carry on, she realized. '_And yet… I can't leave them alone.'_ Her eyes grew pained as she made her decision. _'I said I would never let a person bully others anymore. How can I chicken out?'_ She looked at Naruto and saw the mental dilemma he was going through. Even Sasuke seemed a little moved. _'It looks like our decision has been made.'_ They glanced at each other and nodded slightly.

"… And my daughter will be without a father, my grandson without…"

"We'll continue the mission." Sasuke interrupted the Bridge-builder's rant, stunning him with the easy acceptance.

"No fear! We have me, the future Hokage on the team!" Naruto's proclamation brought the bearded man out of his daze.

"Well, prove it!"

They started bickering yet again.

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"Why do we have to go so slowly?"

Naruto's senseless whining was really getting on her nerves. "Shut up idiot! Quiet!" She snapped at him. "We're in enemy territory."

They were crossing the strait separating the Land of Waves from the mainland. Due to secrecy, the boatman, Kaji-san had been paddling them through a lesser used route.

"We are lucky, the weather is good." Tazuna's friend stated. "No storms and plenty of fog. We won't be noticed as we sneak in."

They reached at the Wave Country soon after that, embarking at the small port there, continuing their journey on foot.

The silence in their journey on the dirt path to Tazuna's house was a welcome one, allowing Sakura to recover from her frazzled nerves from the earlier attack and Naruto's constant whining. Therefore, she didn't take it very kindly when Naruto gave a loud yell and whipped a kunai at a random bush.

"Naruto!" She bonked him on the head. "Stop doing useless things!"

"But Sakura-chan!" He rubbed the lump that had formed on his head. "I felt something!"

"There wasn't anything!" She snapped back. "Don't be so paranoid…"

Naruto whipped around in the middle of her rant, slinging another kunai at another bush further away. "This time I got it!"

He rushed parting it, revealing a terrified white rabbit? "But… There was something else there!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed. _'He's right. There's lingering chakra here, like a jutsu had been used. Kawarimi no jutsu? But that person moved…?'_

"Get down!" Kakashi's shout rang out through the clearing and the genin scrambled to the ground while Kakashi pushed Tazuna-san down. A large sword spun over them and would have decapitated them if they haven't ducked. It crashed into a tree wedging its edge halfway into it from sheer force. A rather tall ninja with a bandage mask covering his nose and mouth appeared, leaping onto the handle of the sword.

'_A Zanpaktou? That guy… I didn't feel him coming.'_ Sakura's eyes grew large at that realization.

"Momochi Zabuza, an A-class missing nin from mist." Kakashi spoke to the tall figure, slowing inching from the ground, his eyes locked on every movement from the enemy nin.

The ninja, revealed to be Zabuza, leapt down from his zanpaktou almost lazily. "I am."

"I made sure to brush off the dust on my bingo book after my students defeated your associates." He tried to rile Zabuza up.

"They're of no more use, getting beaten by a trio of genins, poor excuses of ninjas."

"Why you!" Naruto exploded, trying to charge the missing nin, but was restrained by Sakura.

"Stay back. He's too strong for you. Looks like I'll have to use it." Kakashi raised his slanted headband, opening his previously concealed eye. It was red. A closer look revealed something that looked like three tomoes in the eye?

Zabuza recognized it. "Ah, the Sharingan. I'm honoured to be able to see it in action."

"What is that?" Sakura breathed out, slightly awed. Beside her, Sasuke seemed to go into shock.

"It can't be. The Sharingan is a kekkei genkai that only the Uchiha have!"

"Aren't you an Uchiha, teme?" Naruto was puzzled.

"I haven't developed it yet." Sasuke frowned. "The Sharingan is a doujutsu that gives its user the ability to anticipate and copy all techniques."

'_Uchiha? So that is the famed Sharingan.'_ Sakura abruptly recalled the info she and Naruto dug out about their sensei. _'But which Uchiha did he get it from…?' _She shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake the thoughts out. _'Not time to think about it now.'_ She turned her attention back to the two jounin-levelled ninjas' confrontation.

"That's right boy. Its user can instantly and flawlessly copy the techniques and reflect it back at his or her opponent. That's how Kakashi was included in the bingo book as a highly dangerous ninja, earning the nickname "Copy Ninja Kakashi" for copying over a thousand ninjutsu."

The three genins stared at Kakashi at Zabuza's assertion. _'Kakashi-sensei is that good?' _

"I'll consider it a testament to my skill if I kill you too, on top of that old man." Zabuza smiled cruelly, rapidly forming hand seals. He initiated the Hidden Mist no jutsu, summoning a thick fog from the nearby lake to conceal himself from the Sharingan.

"Be careful." Kakashi warned the three genins. "He is known for his silent killing technique." He started gathering his chakra, emanating a strong aura. The atmosphere turned heavy from the killing aura emitted by both jounins, the weight of it swamping the unprepared genins.

'_I almost can't breathe!'_ Sakura was panicking. **{This measly thing isn't going to stop me!}** Inner Sakura roared, breaking Sakura out of the induced trance. Taking a deep breath, half meditating, she managed to revert to a composed state of mind. She took hold and squeezed the other two's hands hard, breaking them free from the hypnotic fear the killing intent put them into.

She nodded gruffly at Sasuke, and they formed a triangle formation in front of Tazuna-san, protecting him. She tried stretching out her chakra senses, but she was hampered by the fog? _'The chakra infused into the mist is hindering my senses!'_ Sakura strained her senses further, willing and forcing it to detect something other than the mist.

"I will not allow my comrades to die! Believe in me." Sakura immediately focused her chakra senses at Kakashi-sensei's voice stressing and fine tuning it until she could feel his chakra.

'It's like changing the frequency!' She marvelled, now about to feel all the energy around her. Naruto's chakra shone like a bright beacon beside her, countering Sasuke's natural darkness. Behind them, she could feel Tazuna's life force, whereas before she couldn't feel anything from him. 'Tazuna-san doesn't have a chakra system!' She realized. 'I'm not sensing chakra! I'm sensing the life itself!'

Life was like energy, pulsing all around her, giving her the impression of many colours surrounding them. _'I can use this to see!'_ she suddenly realised, the colours of the life around her, forming a different type of sight. _'Like a second sight.'_ The natural energy around her was glowed in shades of yellow, with animals and humans glowing shades of blue. _'Naruto is glowing two colours, red and blue? Huh?'_ **{Never mind that! Someone's heading towards us!} **_'It's not Kakashi-sensei's chakra!'_

"Incoming!" She yelled, pushing Tazuna away. The boys ducked and rolled away at the same time, avoiding Zabuza who had suddenly appeared behind them. Kakashi appeared behind him, slashing him and he dissolved into a puddle of water, proving him to be a water clone.

'_A clone?'_ Zabuza yet again appeared behind Kakashi, stabbing him. Kakashi also fell apart, also collapsing into water. _'So a clone doesn't have a chakra system.' _**{Except for Kage Bunshin}** Inner Sakura reminded. A sudden movement behind them alerted her to a presence of another human. _'It's a darker blue. That is quite a large amount of chakra! Almost equal that of Kakashi-sensei.'_ She was alarmed. _'If that person jumps in…'_

Staying calm, she kept an eye on the unknown person and the fight in front of her as it migrated to the lake, taking care to signal the other two about the presence of another enemy. The other two genins formed a tighter guard around Tazuna-san, acknowledging her message.

Finally the fight seemed to be over, with Kakashi holding a kunai around Zabuza's neck. _'No, wait, it's not…!'_ It was yet another water clone! This time Zabuza initiated a technique, Water prison, trapping Kakashi on the lake.

"Take Tazuna and run now!" Kakashi ordered.

"Unfortunately, I won't allow that." Zabuza ordered his remaining water clone to attack Team 7.

"Sasuke and I will handle this." Sakura said as she took out her wire. "Naruto, protect Tazuna and prepare for phase two." She had fallen into the role of a planner in Team 7 ever since that fateful day of the survival test.

"Hn.", "Got it, Sakura-chan." They agreed.

"I'll distract him, come up behind me." She informed Sasuke as Zabuza's water clone headed towards them.

She ran out towards the clone, somersaulting over it, throwing a kunai attached to her wire out to Naruto. Naruto caught the kunai, holding fast as Sakura used it to try to trip and distract the clone. Behind them, Sasuke headed towards them as Sakura distracted the clone, trying to loop around it with the wire, the clone resisting against her efforts. Sasuke managed to stab the clone after Sakura immobilized one of its hands with the wire, while she kept the other hand busy countering her attacks. The clone dissolved into water, unable to hold its form.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she headed back to guard Tazuna.

The blond formed the cross-shaped hand seal, summoning twenty Kage Bunshins. "I'm on it!" The Kage Bunshins stormed Zabuza en masse, one of them tossing Sasuke a windmill shuriken as they went.

Sakura smiled. They had used this technique on Kakashi-sensei once during training, and it had worked, buying them a few precious seconds after surprising him.

Zabuza fought off all the Kage Bunshins with one hand, slicing through them with his zanpaktou easily. This though, created a smoke cover which Sasuke utilized for the Shadow Shuriken Technique, a technique that hides a second shuriken under the shadow of the first shuriken. Zabuza was not so easily fooled though. He caught the first shuriken and dodged the second. Sakura had left Sasuke to protect Tazuna, attacking the missing nin on the lake with a kunai after he dodged the second shuriken, but Zabuza managed to parry her attack with the windmill shuriken he had caught.

Sakura turned gleeful at this as she continued to force all her strength down on the windmill shuriken Zabuza was wielding also subconsciously augmenting her strength with chakra, keeping his free arm occupied. Behind Zabuza, the second shuriken transformed back into Naruto who had originally transformed into the shuriken before one of his clones had passed him to Sasuke. After changing back, Naruto slung a kunai at Zabuza, forcing him to release Kakashi from the prison to catch the kunai. _'Sigh, yet another chakra intensive technique.' _She shook her head as she sprinted to catch Naruto before he sank. _'Only Naruto.'_

Enraged at being outsmarted, Zabuza turned to attack them, but was stopped by Kakashi who was now free.

Kakashi nodded at Sakura. "Get them further away."

She retreated, carrying Naruto to shore. They leapt into the trees carrying Tazuna up with them to avoid the massive waves from the clashing water dragon jutsu the jounins were using. Kakashi's water dragon eventually threw Zabuza into a tree, and Kakashi prepared to finish him off.

'_Wait, that other presence is moving?' _Sakura opened her mouth to warn Kakashi, but before she could, two senbon was shot out towards the two jounin. Her eyes widened in horror, but the target of the senbon turned out to be Zabuza.

The mysterious presence materialized. "I'm a hunter-nin from the Village of the Hidden Mist. That is my target."

Kakashi placed two fingers on Zabuza's pulse. "He's dead."

The hunter-nin picked up the body and vanished.

"Just in time." Kakashi muttered, falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Sensei!"

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It had been hard work dragging Kakashi to Tazuna's house even though they took turns carrying him. Fortunately he was only been unconscious due to chakra exhaustion. It was almost a week before he showed signs of stirring.

Sakura was at the back of the house, it being her turn to guard Tazuna, as Kakashi staggered out in search of them.

"Sensei! You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" Sakura admonished at the sight of his haggard face.

"Where are the other two?" Kakashi ignored her reproach.

She sighed, giving up on him as a lost cause. "They're training while I guard Tazuna-san. I taught them the water-walking chakra control exercise."

"Good." He slumped into the nearest chair. "The fight isn't over yet."

"What do you mean?" She asked, shocked.

"Every hunter-nin is supposed to dispose of bodies immediately to prevent village secrets from leaking out." He breathed out, still feeling the fatigue from chakra exhaustion. "Fortunately for us, Zabuza is also going to need at least a week to recover."

"But his partner is also jounin-level…"

His calm vanished. "That's why we need to improve the team."

Sakura bit her lip nervously, considering something. "Sensei, something happened during the fight." She confessed. "My senses changed after I stressed it to sense through the fog."

Kakashi silently gestured for her to continue.

"Now instead of just sensing chakra, I seem to be able to see the chakra and life force of living things. It shows in different colours and shades." She stated, looking nervously at Kakashi. She finally burst out. "Why is there a second chakra source in Naruto?" Pacing around, she continued. "I wasn't sure before, everything seemed jumbled then. But now I sense it clearly. Worst still, it seems evil." She looked straight at Kakashi, dreading the worst. "Is he possessed?"

Kakashi thought about it. "That is a very useful ability. You can sense others even if they hide or suppress their chakra?"

"Yes. I couldn't sense Zabuza before the attack, but after…"

He mulled over it. "Don't worry about Naruto. That is because of something happened to him when he was young. He will tell you all when he is ready."

Sakura nodded, accepting the explanation.

"How are they managing with the water-walking exercise?"

She palmed her forehead. "Naruto almost has it. Thank goodness he isn't exploding off the water anymore. Sasuke, well, he is slightly ahead of him. They're making it into a competition. They're making everything into a competition, even eating!" She rubbed her forehead feeling an incoming headache, frustrated at the boys' antics.

"It seems like everything is normal. What about you?"

"Sasuke is helping me with my taijutsu, we've been sparring." She admitted reluctantly. "And I've been practicing the medical jutsu on the scrapes the boys get."

"Good. I'll teach you how to channel chakra to improve your speed together with the others, after they master the exercise." Kakashi rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I also have another scroll for you." He looked at her warningly. "I have a deep trust in you not to abuse it." He continued, "Do not practice this on any ally. Chakra scalpels are dangerous."

"Chakra scalpels?" She ran the term through her head, trying to remember why it sounded familiar.

"Yes, it has the ability to sever arteries, injure a person internally just by a touch."

Her eyes widened and she nodded, recognizing the severity of the technique.

"Good. I'll stay here with Tazuna-san. Go and help the boys."

She nodded and left, still slightly speechless over Kakashi's revelations.

Kakashi sniggered slightly after she was out of sight, taking out the Icha Icha from behind him. "She forgot about ordering me back to bed. Ah… What she doesn't know can't hurt her." He giggled perversely as he flipped to his favourite scene.

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They've mastered it. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her non-glowing hand. _'And I've accomplished it too.'_ She proudly gazed at her glowing hand, the soft green glow indicating that she had activated the chakra scalpel.

Sakura turned her face to the sky. _'We're almost ready, and I'm stronger than ever.'_ She smiled. _'Bring it on!'_

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In the forest as he was forraging for wild vegetables and fruits, Naruto came across a girl?

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Authors note:

This was hard! I wasn't quite sure how to write the action scenes differently. In the end, they just had the same outcome. Yes, Team 7 is much stronger now, compared to the canon, but that's due to all the changes that have happened.

Please read and review!


	5. My Precious: Person

There's good news for you people. I admit it. I've been ditched by my boyfriend on Valentine's Day. While that means there's going to be close to zero sappiness in the story today, it also means that you guys get it a few days early.

Lilazngirlz asked if whether Sakura's sensing thing is a kekkei genkai. The answer is a very firm no, especially after I had the time to think about it.

First thing first, Sakura is a first generation shinobi. Her achievements have all been accomplished through hard work. Yes, she is talented, but she has to work doubly hard to realize her potential. To say that her skills are due to a kekkei genkai is to detract from her. Now second, this ability, when you think about it, is very plausible. First, she has phenomenal chakra control and is extremely sensitive to chakra. In the manga, you will see many examples of jounin who can sense chakra, even sensor type nin who take it a few steps further. This was where my original idea came from.

When she couldn't see (ie. The fog), her chakra strained to provide her another sense (to compensate for the lack of one of the five senses). For other nins this might come as increased hearing, smell etc. But for Sakura who is very in touch with her chakra (through meditation, training) and already having the basic ability to sense chakra, her chakra leapt to fill in the gap and she obtained another method to 'see' in exchange.

Lilazngirlz also commented on its similarity towards byakugan. Well, it is slightly similar, but as the story progresses, you will be able to see where it's different. Currently, while she can sense (only chakra) in 360 degrees, she cannot 'see' in 360 degrees, only within her normal viewing range. Besides that, when she 'sees' she does not see chakra systems per say, but actual life forces and chakra, regardless of whether its hidden or not. The ability will evolve in the future, when she learns how to control it or discern what she's seeing. There's a lot she doesn't understand yet.

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Disclaimer: This is really getting old, and I still don't own Naruto! :'(

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'_Italic'_ – thoughts

"Normal" – spoken

**{Bold}** – Inner Sakura

_Italic _ - Flashback

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**My Precious: Person**

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_Flashback_

_A little girl around the age of five pelted through the village, her pink hair streaming behind her, not heeding the calls or the warnings of the villagers to be careful, as she headed to her sanctuary, unwilling and unable to stop without breaking down in tears. Her left hand was clutching the left side of her face, her eyes tearing and stormy._

_She finally reached Training Ground 115, a rarely used training ground she had discovered a few weeks back when the whole incident started. The training ground, with the calm of the forest around it, was her only sanctuary. It was only then she allowed herself to collapse to the ground in a quivering mass. The sounds of small critters and the sound of leaves as a wind shook the branches of the trees slowly reduced her distress, and she fell into a meditative trance that came naturally to her, trying to escape the reality of her life. She calmed as she felt the distinctive warmth of her chakra inside of her as well as the chakra of the living things on the outside, her tears subsiding._

_Her left hand let go of the death grip on her heart-shaped face, leaving the red imprint of a large handprint clear to any passerby's sight. It had just gotten worse. Usually that man would just push her around or trip her, but now he had progressed to slapping and kicking her. The child shook her head in anguish. Why wouldn't her mother believe her? Even with the evidence on her face, that woman, she wouldn't call her mother anymore, would only believe in that man, too blinded to see anything else. No, Sakura was not stupid; she knew that she only had herself to depend on now. Even if she reported it, the best would be that the woman would be deemed an unfit parent and she would be shipped off to the orphanage. _

_Her lip quivered at the thought and she could only suppress her sobs with the reassurance of her imaginary friend, or Inner Sakura as she named herself. Inner Sakura had also appeared at the same time that man had, supporting Sakura through all the hard times, her only friend. Inner Sakura was strong, like how she wanted to be. If she were strong, no one would be able to bully her or hit her anymore. _

_Inner Sakura whispered to her, and she smiled, her eyes narrowing in calculation. Yes, she was going to expose that man, she didn't need anyone else. And she'll never be weak again._

_End Flashback_

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Present

'_Another hard day of training'_ Sakura wiped the sweat off her face, tired but satisfied. She could produce the chakra scalpels consistently now, improving from the sporadic bursts of chakra that she could only generate at the beginning. It took far more chakra control than she was used to, but fortunately it wasn't beyond her capabilities. Kakashi-sensei also had her training and practicing her newly gained sensing abilities, turning it on and off until it was like second nature. This had also prompted many new discoveries about her ability.

She sighed with contentment as she trudged wearily through the forest, its tranquility seeping into her. _'Just five minutes couldn't hurt, could it?'_ She debated with herself when she spotted a large tree with outspread branches, the branches creating a lovely shade under the tree, the grassy carpet beneath it beckoning to her drained form in welcome. She definitely did not want to rush back to Tazuna's house where that bratty kid, Tazuna's grandson, Inari was just waiting to create a nuisance of himself.

'_Hell!'_ She made a snap decision when she heard noisy footsteps and felt chakra that belonged to that loud-mouthed blond approaching. She really did not have the patience to put up with him right now. Thankfully the roseate was wearing a brown hooded jacket today to ward off the cold, and it easily camouflaged her amongst the large tree roots as soon as she raised the hood to cover her distinctive bright hair.

She crept into and settled in the space made by the grass in a space between two of its large roots, quickly finding the best spot to wait Naruto out. _'Something else is also approaching?'_ She strained her senses again, closing her eyes, and tuned it to sense its life force. '_It's human with a lot of hidden chakra, very familiar somehow…'_ She scrunched her eyebrows in thought. _'I've only felt Team 7, Zabuza's life force this way…'_ Her eyes abruptly widened in realization. _'It's his accomplice and Naruto… Both of them are heading here!' _

Sakura tensed her muscles, ready to intervene as they came into view.

Naruto was happily chatting with a girl, _'The accomplice?'_ oblivious to the danger. _'The person can't be female, the life force pattern is male.'_ She had practiced her ability in Tazuna's house and the village nearby, eventually discerning the main differences in the male and female energies. _'It's a very feminine looking male then.'_ Sure enough, the disguised nin was very feminine looking still in his teens, wearing a pink sleeveless kimono, a thick black choker around his slim neck with long black hair falling loose around him.

"You're even cuter than Sakura-chan!" Enemy or not, Sakura nearly choked on the laughter involuntarily bubbling out of her when Naruto complimented the 'pretty lady' on her cuteness.

"Thank you. You're wearing a forehead protector. Are you a ninja?" The disguised enemy questioned.

"Dattebayo! I am the future Hokage of Konohagakure! Uzumaki Naruto!" Sakura almost slapped herself at this, restraining herself at the last minute. _'He is a gullible idiot who opens up to everyone.'_

"Ah… You must be a very good ninja then!"

Blushing slightly at this, Naruto confidently boasted, "Of course I am. I always beat the bastard and save my Sakura-chan…"

**{He's dead! Save me will he! Shannaro!}**_ 'Calm down, we'll kill him later.'_ The tic on her forehead was pulsing angrily as she exerted more energy into controlling herself.

"Is that why you fight?" This sudden question seemed to stop Naruto in his tracks as the enemy flicked his eyes to the spot where Sakura was hidden.

'_Huh?'_ Sakura wondered, stumped at his rationale. _'Of all information he could ask the idiot, he asks that?'_ **{He spotted you, but didn't point you out either.}**

"I am going to become the strongest ninja and have everyone acknowledge me!"

"I think that when a person has something important they want to protect..." The she-male fiddled with his basket, seemingly in thought, eventually looking up at Naruto, his gaze strong and confident yet gentle. "…that's when they can become truly strong."

'_That's an interesting philosophy, not really one that I care for though.'_ Sakura clenched her fist. _'I only need to care for myself.'_

"That's right!" Naruto exclaimed, convinced. "I have to get stronger to protect Sakura-chan and even the bastard!" He started running off back to the lake. "I have to go back to train. Thank you nee-chan!"

"By the way, I'm a guy!" The she-male called after him.

Sakura nearly broke her cover laughing as Naruto almost did a face plant to the ground.

Naruto's 'nee-chan' was still plucking herbs after Naruto left, seemingly ignoring Sakura's presence. Sakura sighed, too curious to stay hidden, especially since he already knew her position.

"Is that really what you believe in?" She spoke up, stepping out from her hiding spot.

The disguised teen gave a faux jump, hand clutching his heart.

**{I have to give him points for acting.}** _'Shh… Later.'_

"You startled me! Are you another ninja?"

Sakura smiled congenially, not letting her thoughts show on her face. "Yes, I'm that boy's teammate."

"Ah. It's nice to meet you." He gave a smile that would have charmed anyone else.

"About what you said earlier…?"

"Yes, that's what I believe in."

"That must be a very lucky girl then." Sakura stated mischievously.

"Girl?" He was slightly flustered now, shaken with the direction Sakura led. "Ah, no…"

"Oh, then it's your family?" Sakura sidled up to him, increasing his discomfort.

"Umm… No. He took me in when I was younger…"

"You are very lucky then, to have someone you care about so much."

"Yes I am." The boy smiled now, more at ease with Sakura. "But you don't seem like you believe it?"

"That protecting someone makes you stronger?" She shook her head. "No I don't. I only believe in myself."

"That is sad." He started walking off away from the forest, finished with his harvesting. "I hope you will find someone soon."

Her eyes narrowed as she watched him walk away with a full basket of herbs. **{Did you see that?} **_'Yes, he was picking herbs that were meant for increasing energy.'_ Sakura recalled seeing the medicinal plant in one of the medical texts Kakashi passed to her. '_It'll be very soon now.' _She sighed, giving up on her desired brief respite in the forest, heading to Tazuna's house. _'I have to inform Kakashi-sensei.' _

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With Kakashi-sensei well, they had been taking turns guarding Tazuna-san at the bridge and training at the lake or forest. The atmosphere at the partially completed bridge was depressing, with more and more workers quitting by the day, each afraid of Gato and his retribution.

**{These people are really wimps.}** Inner Sakura sneered as yet another fisherman threw in his hat. Sakura merely sighed from her position at the dock, resigning herself at the cowardly display. _'Looks like I've no choice.'_ She picked up the nearest log from herself, walking to the incomplete section of the bridge to Tazuna, awing the few workers that were left at the display of strength.

She continued to silently help out, her aid inadvertently raising the morale. The men joked around, trying to draw her into conversation, and she soon found her mood also changing to the better. _'They're much better conversationalists than Team 7.'_ She sulked at the thought of her antisocial, usually annoying or unentertaining team, a speechless bastard, an annoying idiot and a perverse sensei. _'The only entertainment is Naruto's screw ups. But still…' _She smiled at the men who were now openly laughing as she told of some of Team 7's antics, her face softening at the memories of what they've been through so far. _'It could have been worse.' _Her smile froze on her face as she realized what she was thinking. _'I'm getting attached to them. This wasn't supposed to happen!_' She was growing more and more panicked as she excused herself from the working men to wash her face.

The pink haired girl splashed water on her face in a sink nearby, her eyes troubled by her sudden awareness of that useless emotion. _'I'll just have to distance myself for awhile.'_ She decided, drying her face with a hand towel. _'I don't need anyone close to me.'_

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Something was wrong. Naruto realized this soon after he left Tazuna's house to the bridge for his turn in guard duty. There were cut up wild animals littering the path through the forest, the path that was leading to Tazuna's house, where Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, and Inari were still…

His eyes narrowed to slits, making him look even more fox-like, as he raced back to the bridge builder's house. No one was going to touch anyone he has sworn to protect while he was still around.

He made it back within a few minutes, just in time to see two stupid-looking but big sized lugs dragging Tsunami-san out from the house, with Inari trying to protest and stop them_. 'It's the culprit from the forest.'_ Naruto surmised seeing one of the lugs' large saw-like sword, remembering the butchered animals. That man back-handed Inari in the face, causing him to fly back. Drawing out his sword in preparation.

Springing out from his position, Naruto sped out, catching Inari before he collided with a tree. He put Inari down. "Run away." He turned to regard the two men silently, blocking their view and protecting Inari behind him.

Inari was stunned; simply staying put with his mouth wide open in awe as he watched Naruto swiftly but brutally take down the two men, rescuing his mother, Tsunami. The whole thing seemed over in seconds.

Free from the men's clutches, Tsunami's first act was to run to Inari, turning him around to check for hidden injuries.

"Thank you so much!" She thanked Naruto over and over again, relieved at the rescue.

Naruto nodded silently, still in battle mode. "I have to go to my teammates, something's happening. Please go and hide, don't get captured by Gato's men."

"But, but…" Inari protested, not able to simply settle for hiding.

Naruto ignored him, speeding off to the bridge._ 'I hope I'm not too late. Please wait for me, minna-san.'_

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Sakura watched from her position, wordlessly cursing Kakashi's plan. _'Sakura, stay and guard Tazuna-san, he says.'_ She groused mentally, unable to move from her position in case one of Zabuza's water clones came close enough to skewer Tazuna. _'You're the most qualified because of your ability, he says.' _

The roseate had long since switched to her second sight, unable to see anything due to the thick fog that Zabuza had created to counter Kakashi's Sharingan. So far the energy from Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to signify that they were holding their own, matching their respective opponents blow to blow.

It was a status quo, one that was going to break soon enough.

Sakura watched horrified as Zabuza's accomplice, apparently named Haku, swelled his chakra, and the nature of his chakra seemed to warp as he activated his kekkei genkai. His chakra was gathering water from the fog and sea, using the wind to create ice? The ice Haku formed was creating large mirrors around Sasuke, as Sasuke could only swivel around, wary of them. Then the whole battle shifted to the missing-nin's favour. Zabuza's accomplice seemed to step into the closest mirror, and Sasuke was beginning to be pelted with countless senbon.

'_Think, Sakura, think!'_ Breathing in and out deeply, she separated her concern from reasoning, allowing her to think clearly. _'I can't move from this spot.'_ She vetoed the idea. _'Once I do, Tazuna will be dead.'_ She shook her head as if to clear it from the panic that was starting to cloud it. _'No, I can't do nothing! Think...Think… I need to figure out how that's happening.' _She focused intensely at the fight much further away from her.

"How is he in that mirror?" She muttered to herself.

Behind her, Tazuna stayed mute, unable to see whatever is going on.

"I know it's a kekkei genkai, but how can he be in all of them at once?" She focused even harder, squinting as if to see clearer. "Did the energy just blink?" Confused, Sakura focused yet more chakra towards her senses. "No, not blink, it's moving around extremely fast!"

"He's moving so fast that he seems to be in all the mirrors at once!" The kunoichi was too focused at the Sasuke's fight that she didn't sense Naruto appearing next to her.

"Sakura-chan." He whispered to her, jolting her out of her semi-trance.

"Naruto!" She was almost joyful. "Great! You need to go and help Sasuke! That guy he's fighting…" Sakura had a very serious expression on. "… Be very careful. Don't get into the circle of ice mirrors, try to break the ice mirrors he formed from the outside."

"Roger." Naruto bounded over to where Sasuke was, taking a long route to avoid Kakashi's and Zabuza's fight as best as he could. Still, he had to destroy two of Zabuza's clones, overwhelming them with his Kage Bunshin, before he could get to where Sasuke was.

He aimed a kunai with an explosion tag attached towards the closest ice mirror. Before it could impact, a hand from inside the circle grabbed the kunai and redirected it back to Naruto.

"Ah!" He yelped, quickly dodging it. "This calls for extreme force!" He formed the familiar cross-shaped seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He created tens of clones. "Destroy the mirrors!" The clones charged but all were dispatched quickly by Haku, who was moving so fast that it seemed like he had created clones. Seeing the fall of his clones, he created even more, driven to desperation after he spied Sasuke lying still on the ground, riddled with many senbon.

"Teme! Get up!" Naruto's clones were now trying to pound down the ice mirrors, all in vain. He breathed out a breath of relief when he spotted Sasuke weakly smirking, dragging himself to his feet. His clones were now all dispersed by Haku.

'_What can I do now?'_

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Authors note:

This is a slightly shorter chapter cause I've been typing it all in one day. Sorry bout the cliffhanger :P

Review!


	6. My Precious: Strength

As much as I would love continuing to crank out chapters at this extremely fast rate, truth is I really cannot sustain that rapid rate. Honestly, I really have just too many commitments.

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Disclaimer: Naruto is Japanese... I'm not Japanese... Can't even speak Japanese... Therefore... No, I don't own Naruto.

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'_Italic'_ – thoughts

"Normal" – spoken

**{Bold}** – Inner Sakura

_Italic _ - Flashback

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**My Precious Person: Strength**

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Naruto's relief was short-lived. Tendrils of ice shot out from the ice mirrors, curling around his body, too fast for him to counteract.

'_What can I do now?'_ Sakura watched desperately as she saw the ice dragging Naruto into the deadly circle of ice mirrors that were suspended in the air around Sasuke.

'_I need to help them!'_ She was starting to become frantic_. 'I can't just stay here!'_ **{You have no choice!}** Inner Sakura reminded her harshly. **{Remember your mission. Leave and the old man dies.}**

Two mizu bunshin further away watched her, sensing weakness.

The kunoichi was a perfect picture of calmness on the outside, even as a storm of indecisiveness raged within. _'I can't be useless…'_

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_Flashback_

_Seven Years Ago_

_A five year old Sakura lay on the floor, helpless, as a brown-haired man in his mid-thirties kept kicking her at her side._

_**{Just a little while more.}**__ Inner Sakura encouraged as the blows to her ribcage grew in intensity. The pink haired girl winced, refusing to let her tears leak out, not letting herself cry out in pain._

_That sadistic man had been abusing her on and off for almost a month now. She wasn't going to stand for it anymore, not when she had enough courage with Inner Sakura backing her. 'Follow the plan... Remember the plan… The plan…' She gritted her teeth, mentally chanting to herself as a sudden crack sounded out as the man kicked her rib. Her eyes began to water involuntarily._

"_Finally crying, huh, you useless freak." Her mother's vicious boyfriend smirked at her._

'_Just a little while more…' She repeated this mantra internally, praying for it to be over quickly. Looking up at the man, she glared._

"_That wasn't enough?" The abusive man threw her against the wall, aiming another kick at her._

_She braced herself for the pain, her eyes squeezed tight. But the kick never landed, as the door leading to the house's entrance opened. Her mother and her friend Yamanaka-san, an ex-kunoichi, walked in. Both of their eyes widened at the scene._

_Her plan successful, she now let her tears flow and the pain to show around herself, sobbing loudly on the floor, clutching her injured side. Her mother's boyfriend was caught in the act, with his foot raised ready to kick her again._

"_It's not what you think!" The man was now panicking._

_Her mother ignored him, rushing to Sakura's side to comfort her, even as Yamanaka-san's chakra turned into killer intent._

_The blonde woman advanced on him slowly, furious at the display of child abuse. She had a child the same age as Sakura! Her chakra rose in spirals around her. Even the man, a civilian, who couldn't feel chakra could feel the heavy atmosphere the chakra was creating weighing down on him, causing him to quiver in fear. Sakura's mother rose suddenly, turning to the man. She stared him down for what seemed like an eternity, trying to reconcile the man she thought she knew with the man she now saw standing in front of her. The man who the red headed woman witnessed abusing her daughter. All of the sudden, the Sakura's mother's vision bled red. She closed the distance between the man and her seemingly faster than a normal civilian could, putting her whole weight forward, her red hair swinging wildly at the sudden movement. _

"_Baby…" The man could only utter in surprise before a loud crack of a hand hitting flesh sounded out._

_His face was hit with such force that his head was turned sideways and he stumbled a few steps back. _

"_Miyako! Why you…" He glared at his attacker, the woman heaving large breaths at her exertion._

_Finally, collecting herself, the red head glared back. "Get out of my home."_

_The man, now her mother's ex-boyfriend, forgot about the presence of an ex-kunoichi temporarily in his anger, raising his hand to try to slap Sakura's mother. Yamanaka-san easily intercepted the attempted attack mercilessly twisting his arm until a snap sounded out._

"_Argh!" The man whimpered on the ground as the blonde woman let go, his arm broken in two places._

_The red head woman stepped in front of him, nudging his face roughly with her foot until he was looking at her. Quietly, she spoke. "I didn't believe Sakura-chan when she told me of what you were doing." She looked at her daughter, her eyes apologizing. "I cannot be forgiven for that, just as I won't forgive you for doing that to her."_

"_Why you…!" The man started, before he was gagged and tied up by Yamanaka-san with her scarves._

"_I'll get the Konoha Police to pick him up." The blue eyed woman left silently to contact the authorities, still fuming internally._

_Sakura's mother turned to pick Sakura up, her heart clenching as she saw each flinch her green eyed child exhibited at every jolt._

"_I'm sorry." The red haired woman hung her head. "I should have…"_

"_I can't trust you anymore." _

"_I… I…"_

"_I'm joining the ninja academy." The child merely cut in, ignoring the elder woman's stuttering. "I won't be bullied. I won't be helpless anymore."_

_End Flashback_

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Present

'_Am I still useless?' _Sakura couldn't help wondering as she saw Naruto and Sasuke being barraged by senbon from every angle. _'I became a shinobi so that I could become stronger. Strong people aren't useless. But…'_

A sudden change of Sasuke's chakra interrupted Sakura from her debilitating thoughts, her concentration now firmly on his chakra patterns as she witnessed him suddenly becoming faster, sensing Haku's moves almost as if he read his mind. _'There's chakra coursing through his eyes!'_ She realized. _'The Sharingan?'_

The battle seemed to shift as Sasuke unveiled his new ability. _'He's stronger.' _She felt even more inadequate. _'He's there making a difference, becoming stronger, while I am here, useless.' _**{Stop moping around, something's happening!} **

Even with his new ability, Sasuke couldn't keep avoiding the senbon and protect Naruto at the same time. Sakura watched with dawning dread as he fell to the ground, his form still. The dread was quickly eclipsed by the sudden burst of chakra, chakra that was malicious, oppressive. The darkly threatening chakra glowed a mix of dark black and red to her chakra sight, her eyes tracked it, quickly discovering the source. _'Naruto?'_

Sakura's jaw dropped as she detected the sheer quantity of chakra Naruto was emitting, the chakra wrapping around him like a glowing red cloak. How in the world…? Her thoughts were cut short as Naruto, visibly strengthened by the chakra and angered by Sasuke's seeming death by the hands of Haku, assaulted him relentlessly. No matter how much Haku tried, he couldn't evade the vicious attacks Naruto was using. With the blonde's speed and strength much increased, he landed an attack that slashed through Haku's mask, splitting it into two.

**{Snap out of it! This is a chance!} **_'Chance? Wait… They're all distracted. And Naruto and Sasuke are going to be fine, that Haku isn't trying to kill them.'_

She grabbed hold of Tazuna's arm, her verdant green eyes determined. _'I may not be as strong. But I sure as hell won't be useless.'_

Ignoring the old man's fear feeling of the chakra Naruto was emanating, she tugged harder on his arm. "If you want to live, stay close to me. We're getting off this bridge."

He simply nodded in agreement.

It took just a split second to concentrate chakra in her legs, and she closed the distance between them and the clones in a blink of the eye, touching them both with glowing hands. The two mizu bunshin collapsed without any further resistance, unable to react to her chakra scalpels in time.

"Let's go."

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Seeing their plan, Zabuza tried to intercept but was countered by Kakashi wielding his kunai to block his massive zanpaktou.

"Ho, leaving the party so soon?" Kakashi's eyes crinkled like a half moon.

Zabuza merely glared, renewing his efforts as Kakashi leapt further away, his hands in the motions to form the seals for the summoning jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no___ Jutsu!" _The gray haired nin slammed his hand to the ground.

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___Somehow, after fending off a few more mizu bunshin, they managed to get off the bridge safely. __'Definitely need to thank Kakashi-sensei later for keeping Zabuza busy.' ____She winced. ____**{It's not over yet.} **_

___She snapped her head back up, sensing a large group of men entering the clearing they were in. __'I was too distracted with escaping.' ____She chided herself mentally. Not enough time and nowhere to hide. Not with an older civilian. _

_"__Gato." Tazuna suddenly uttered hatefully as the small figure in front of the group emerged._

___Really… The roseate haired nin fought off the urge to laugh. Gato could only be termed as a short man, only slightly taller than her, and she was twelve! His appearance menacing as it is just couldn't make up for his lack of height._

___She was shaking slightly in her mirth. Gato mistakenly took her shaking as a sign of fear._

_"__Are you scared of me, little girl? Hand over the bridge maker and I won't hurt you." The pint sized man attempted to smile benevolently. "In fact, I will even reward you."_

___Sakura really couldn't hold herself any longer, bursting out in maniacal-sounding laughter. All the heads around turned to her, looking at her as if she were mad._

_"__Are you serious? Me? Afraid of you?" She shook harder with her hysterical laughter. "You're smaller than a thirteen year old boy who hasn't even passed puberty yet!"_

___Gato was starting to tremble with rage but was rendered speechless from surprise.  
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_"__In fact, you hired bigger sized henchmen just to make up for that, didn't you?" She pointed at all of them. "Well, they make you look much shorter." The kunoichi rubbed her chin lightly as if in thought. "You should hire shorter people to make yourself look taller." _

___Looking up at him, she rubbed in the salt into his wound. "Then again, no one is shorter than you." She grinned mischievously. "You'll have to hire babies!"_

___Oh, Naruto would've loved this. Gato was now purple in the face, vibrating with pure rage at her taunting._

___Beside her, Tazuna broke out with a light sweat. "Sakura-san, should you really…?"_

_"__Oh, trust me. He can't even hurt a fly with that size." _

___Gato finally blew his top at her flippant tone. "Kill them all!" He ordered his minions._

___She brought her fingers together, forming a few quick seals. _

_"__Bunshin no jutsu!" Tens of Sakuras' popped into existence, obscuring them from sight. _

_"__Henge no jutsu!" Half of the Sakuras' turned into Tazuna._

_"__Scatter!" They broke up, scattering to all directions._

___The real Sakura held on to Tazuna tightly running to the North as the henchmen approached, leaving Gato alone at the back. "Hold on. It's about to get interesting." _

___She formed yet another seal. "Henge Kawarimi no jutsu."_

___Oh the memories of this jutsu she modified. Just add the elements of the henge to Kawarimi and target a live person instead of a log to substitute their location. Why, she used it on Kakashi-sensei once, substituting herself with Sasuke in a spar. Hehehe.. The look on Sasuke's henged face when Kakashi-sensei's punch landed and the henge dispelled… I didn't know my eyes could go so large…_

___She swapped herself and Tazuna with Gato, just as two men closed in. Gato, henged to appear as Tazuna could only sputter as his location suddenly changed. The men thinking that the ninja girl had run off, abandoning her client, charged at Tazuna, wanting to get the reward Gato had promised for his capture. _

_"__No, no! I'm your boss, you idiots! Stop!" He ran off, trying to evade their fists._

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___Tazuna marveled at the girl next to him, as she turned to regard him._

_"__I've scattered them. Let's go."_

_"__Wait! Where are we going?" He tried to insist._

_"__Somewhere that is safe for you." She merely replied half distracted._

_"__Safe? No, we can't! This is an opportunity to take our town back!" Tazuna argued, trying to make her see reason._

_"__Oh? Really?" She questioned sarcastically. "You and what army, Tazuna-san?" The nin tried to rub in the fact to his dense skull. _

_"__But you…"_

_"__My job, our job, was merely to protect you."_

_"__But… But…"_

___They were interrupted by another approaching group of people. __'The presences… Inari?'_

_"__Grandpa! You're alright! We were coming to rescue you!"_

___Inari led the large group of villagers, nearly the town of villagers, all armed with saucepans, skillets, pitchforks…_

_'They…'____**{It's their town.}**_

___Sakura only sighed heavily as they turned to her intent on continuing their path to clear out their oppressors. "I'm only going to watch." She declared.  
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_'I really jinxed myself.'_

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___The blond ninja knelt in front of two graves marked with a large sword, with his team behind him. He bowed once in recognition of the ninja lying in rest there._

___It had definitely been a long and trying day. After slashing open that Haku's mask, Naruto had painfully discovered the masked Haku was the kind girly looking boy that he had met in the forest. He had only just narrowly avoided killing him with a lethal blow. Then Haku just had to plead for him to kill him._

___What was he supposed to do? Everything after that just turned into a blur. Haku was yelling something about protecting his precious person, then he disappeared from Naruto's view only to reappear in front of the captured Zabuza, taking Kakashi's chidori for him. _

___The fox whiskered blond rubbed hard on his forehead, trying to ease the headache from thinking about all these repeatedly. He knew why the other boy had done it. Naruto would have done it too for Iruka-sensei, Sakura-chan or Sasuke. Maybe even Kakashi-sensei, even though he was always late. Because they were the only ones who acknowledged him, believed in him; they were his family. _

_'I'll protect them always, believe in it!____' He swore in front of Zabuza's and Haku's graves. At least they are still together. Haku who loved his Zabuza-san so much, Haku who was so gentle that he didn't kill Sasuke, and the Zabuza who underneath his tough exterior, loved Haku equally. _

___He got up from his kneeling position, dusting off the dirt that clung to his pants. Yes, they were together. Just like we are together. _

___He took in the sight of a battered looking, but alive, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan. Alive. Victorious._

_"__Dattebayo! We did it!" He pumped his fist to the air in victory. "We busted Gato and corp!"_

_"__Well done team." Kakashi interrupted Naruto's jubilant crowing. "Let's head back."_

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___As they left the newly completed bridge, quickly completed with all the villagers and Team 7's help after Gato's defeat and expulsion, the villagers were in fierce debate._

_"__Let's name it the Sakura Bridge!" One of the unnamed bridge exclaimed, remembering the help of the pink haired girl._

_"__NO!" Inari objected. "We can only name it the Awesome Naruto Bridge, after the awesome Naruto-niisan!"_

___A squabble ensued between the villagers and Inari._

___A piercing whistle interrupted the fierce argument. "We will name it the Great Konoha Bridge." Tazuna declared. "To honor all the ninjas that came to help us. To honor the village that they grew up in."_

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_"__What?" The blond cried out disbelievingly. "Really?" His eyes grew large._

_"__Yes." Kakashi affirmed._

_"__Woohooo! An A-rank mission! We completed an A-rank mission!" Naruto came between Sakura and Sasuke, grabbing hold of their shoulders. "Awesome!"  
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_"__Let go dobe!" "Stop shouting in my ear!" The other shinobi and kunoichi of the team complained, each leaving a lump on the blond ninja as punishment, leaving him dazed on the ground as they continued on back to Konoha._

___He picked himself off the ground, rubbing the lumps painfully._

_"__Aww… Sakura-chan…" He turned and looked around, seeing the rest of Team 7 much further away. "Hey! Wait for me! Eh! Sakura-chan, teme! Wait!"_

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___Authors note: That's a wrap to the My Precious Person arc. Please forgive all the possible spelling, grammar, misc mistakes. Just point out anything you see, and I'll try to change it. It's been really busy, and I haven't really managed to read this over. Yes, Team 7 completed an A-rank mission. Momochi Zabuza was an A-ranked missing-nin, so the difficulty and therefore the rank of the mission was upgraded.  
_

___NEXT UP: The Chuunin Exam Arc._


	7. Growth Pains

I would really love to know what you guys think about the story.

Oh and below is a sort of an omake (But it does play a minor part in the story). Review if you like it (or don't like it). It was just how I think the real Team 7 might have reacted if or when it happens, well, in my opinion.

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'_Italic'_ – thoughts

"Normal" – spoken

**{Bold}** – Inner Sakura

_Italic _ - Flashback

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**Growth Pains**

Kakashi is a premier jounin in the village, having graduated from the academy at the top of the class at the age of 5, a record yet to be broken. He became a chuunin a mere year later, creating yet another record; a jounin at the age of 13, joining the ANBU a few years later and eventually achieving the rank of a captain. The enigmatic man had many other titles and achievements, being listed on the Bingo Book at the age of ten, Sharingan Kakashi, Copy-cat ninja, and the holder of a thousand jutsus… But he was honestly stumped by twelve year olds. Seriously, no one on earth can understand these teens going through puberty. Well, them and women. Women were just made to confuse poor men.

He nodded sagely, momentarily side tracked from his musings.

'_Seriously though. What could make them do… This?'_

Kakashi stared down on the three guilty looking teens that constituted the rest of Team 7.

"It was a simple D-rank mission." He began, shooting each of them The Look. "How is it you three can complete a complicated A-rank mission but mess up and almost fail a D-rank?" He questioned accusingly.

"Kaka-sensei! The dogs…. Minefield…" Naruto rambled on, his orange jumpsuit covered with soot stains and dirt. Rather in contrast with the pristine condition the other two genin were in.

Kakashi paid him no mind, cutting in without giving him any recourse. "In fact what happened to your teamwork?

The three twelve year olds only looked up at him innocently.

"Sasuke."

"The dobe insisted to take all the leads." Sasuke grumbled.

"You should know better. You all worked well with each other in the Land of Waves, but ever since then…" He trailed off, connecting the dots. "Sakura and Sasuke."

The silver haired nin regarded them sternly. "You both have been neglecting your teamwork."

Sakura shrugged even as Sasuke grunted.

The jounin instructor went silent as he considered his possible recourses. Really, these were twelve year olds, kids, in other words, parenting methods may be more effective? In fact wasn't that Jounin sensei meeting last week addressing that topic. It was made compulsory to attend by the Hokage, so he did show up, albeit two hours late, as it was almost over. He narrowed his eyes in thought. _'In fact, weren't they speaking on the merits of positive reinforcement?' _Oh, perfect. He did positive very well.

Decision made, he turned back to the three genin, the outline of his lips curving into a sinister smile under his mask.

The genin shivered, somehow sensing his plan, instinctively moving closer together to protect themselves despite their grievances against one another.

"In fact, I think this calls for remedial training!" The masked nin rubbed his hands together in glee. Especially after witnessing three almost identically horrified faces.

"Sensei!" Sakura sprouted out quickly at the frantic beckoning of her teammates. "I… We…"

"Yes, Sakura?"

The two boys pushed her forward, shamelessly sacrificing her to save themselves. She gave them a glare with a twisting motions with her hands, causing them both to flinch.

"Sakura?" Kakashi repeated.

"I'm sorry sensei." '_He has a summoning contract with dogs right?'_ She gave him her best puppy dog look, complete with large teary green eyes, looking up mournfully at him.

Catching on swiftly, Naruto added to the arsenal, his blue eyes mysteriously becoming larger, a look he practiced often on Iruka-sensei.

Indecision raged within Kakashi at those looks. _'Ahh… I should be immune at that by now, after so many years with Pak-kun... Aww…' _He wavered beneath the combined force of Sakura's and Naruto's Puppy Dog Eyes no jutsu (Hurriedly named by the duo). Until they made a critical mistake.

The duo pulled Sasuke to the front of them, trying to get him to deliver the killing blow.

"Hnn." Sasuke only sulkily grumbled, unwilling submit to the indignity, breaking the tenuous spell over Kakashi.

"Nice try." Kakashi ruffled the two male genins head. "But training is still…"

"Sensei!" Sakura cut in again. "It really wasn't my fault!" She blushed, not really believing she was really going to resort to this. "I started menstruating last week."

All possible retorts emptied Kakashi's head at that, and he subtly inched away from his female student.

Observing their sensei's reaction at that statement, the other two genin, Sasuke and Naruto inched away from her as well, concluding that 'Menstruating' was a very Very Bad Thing. Especially if it could scare off their sadistic sensei!

"Right… Sakura, you can…" Kakashi's voice faded slightly as he tried to figure out what to do. "Err… Go home and rest. Come back next week. Or whenever it's over."

"Yes, sensei." She smirked triumphantly at the other two after she spun around from her sensei, trotting of in the direction of her home, glad to have escaped the 'remedial training'.

"Kaka-sensei,"

Kakashi attention snapped to Naruto. The blond seemed mildly disturbed. So did Sasuke really. "Yes?"

"What is 'Mens…ating?'"

Sigh. That. "Menstruating. Naruto." He corrected absently. "That's when women turn into monsters every month because of their body."

"Sakura-chan is turning into a monster?" The normally boisterous ninja was clearly panicking. "We need to stop it! We have to save Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi chided, calming the blond before he dropped the proverbial bomb. "It's too late. There's no cure."

"Noooo!" He was boinked on the head by Sasuke.

"Shut up, dobe, he hasn't finished yet."

Rubbing the lump on his head, the blond forcibly quieted.

"As I was saying, it's too late." The older nin raised his hand to quell the foreseen protests from the two genins. "But, it's not constant. It only happens once a month for about three to four days."

"Every month?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Yes. Haven't you seen any signs of change lately?"

The Uchiha combed through his memory. "More irritable, ruthless…" The Uchiha's already light complexion paled further as he was convinced.

"She hits harder, her moods swing from happy to raging mad in a second…" Naruto continued the list, comprehension starting to dawn on him.

"It's not too bad. Afterwards you'll start to see other things changing as well." The jounin hinted with a perverted look on his face.

The males of Team 7 were successfully distracted from Kakashi's original purpose of remedial training that morning as the jounin took out his orange book and began spreading his corruptive influence over them.

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Sakura swung her hands happily, her mood lightened from the success of escaping her sensei's remedial training. She really wouldn't have managed to cope with it anyway, what with the constant dull aching on her lower abdomen. Snapping at Naruto and Sasuke throughout the last few days was probably the only thing that kept her sane through all the inane D-ranked missions. Her body was really useless right now, too much exertion and she received pains shooting through her stomach. Yet she really was too annoyed by the D-rank missions, any little thing just setting her off.

'_No, it's probably the best to stay at home and study.'_ **{Not waste our time with those stupid missions, Shannaro!}**

She absentmindedly strolled past the Ninja Academy, dodging an errant kunai from the side. _'We've already mastered the chakra scalpels, what next?' _

Her mind busy pondering her new dilemma, she didn't notice when she strode past a number of foreign nin slightly older than her.

'_Genjutsu perhaps? Naruto is weak against it…'_

She continued pondering her study material, eager to get stronger than her teammates, not noticing anything out of place.

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"No! They're too young, Kakashi!" Umino Iruka's protest rang out. "Even Gai waited a year before recommending his team!"

"They have already completed an A-ranked mission, that had two A-ranked missing nins involved I might add, without any complications." _'Well, any lasting complications.'_ Kakashi added mentally.

They had been summoned by the Sandaime to a meeting concerning the chuunin exam together with all other jounin senseis' and academy teachers. One of the jounin teacher's responsibilities was to judge on whether their students were ready for the exam. The academy teachers on the other hand were to balance the judgment with their observations of the students from their academy days.

"I recommend Team 8." Kurenai, a beautiful red eyed woman with long flowing hair cut in before Iruka could further protest.

"Team 10 will also participate." A dark skinned jounin called out.

Iruka sputtered before almost exploding. "They're all only twelve! They have all only been genin for less than six months! Hokage-sama! You can't seriously…"

"I'm aware, Iruka-kun." The Sandaime was leisurely smoking his pipe. "However all three teams have completed the pre-requisite number of D-ranks and at least one C-rank or higher…" At this, the Hokage looked pointedly at Kakashi.

Iruka was struck silent at the insinuation.

"However, a compromise will be the best." The Hokage continued pensively. "As much as I trust your judgment, Kakashi, Kurenai and Asuma, it would be good to prove that your students are indeed capable."

The Sandaime stood up suddenly. "Iruka, you will be in charge of testing the nine rookie genin. The meeting is adjourned."

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The shade of the tree she was under was lulling her to semi-sleep state as she was in meditation ignoring the sounds of the world around her. Her nose twitched as a fly landed on it and she shook her head, frustrated with how easily she was getting distracted from the meditation.

'_I really should have kept up with meditation during the mission…_' The pink haired teen sighed heavily, rusty because of her lack of practice from her one month, almost two months long mission to the Wave Country. Thanks to that oversight, she was now finding it extremely difficult to get back to her routine.

'_I've gotten too used to loud mouth blonds and sulky Uchihas.'_ She thought amusedly. Sakura stretched out slightly, popping her shoulder blade to ease the tension that had built up. Her Chinese style red top crinkled as she sat up straight again, closing her eyes for what seemed like the umpteen time.

She was promptly distracted by a familiar chakra presence approaching, before stopping before her. _'Has a constant chakra cloak. A henge perhaps?'_

Frustrated at being interrupted from her meditation yet again, she growled out, "What is it, Iruka-sensei? Hurry up, I'm busy."

She snapped her eyes open impatiently and a surprised looking Naruto came into her view. "Drop the henge. I'm not an idiot."

The dumbfounded Naruto imposter sighed before releasing the genjutsu.

"You were always good with genjutsu and sensing chakra." Iruka admitted reluctantly. "I should have done something else."

"Done something else for what purpose?" Sakura questioned him sharply, immediately suspicious at his motives.

The scarred chuunin's shoulders tensed up before he forced himself to relax. "You're the last one anyway, so I guess there's no point trying to keep it secret."

"Last one?" The roseate's tone was incredulous.

"Calm down." Her old academy teacher tried to pacify her. "It was just for a simple test?"

"Test? Kakashi-sensei didn't mention anything."

"Ah, that's just like him. He nominated your team to participate in the chuunin exams."

Shock rose through Sakura at Iruka's statement. Kakashi nominated them to participate after only six months? She was surprised by the feeling of pride and achievement that coursed through her. **{Kakashi thinks we're good!} **Inner Sakura was celebrating inside her head.

Sakura attempted to fight down a euphoric smile but lost. Seeing it, Iruka nearly slumped in dismay. He really didn't want to burst her bubble. But… He wasn't going to let Naruto's team go into the chuunin exams that easily! Sure, Naruto and Sasuke had easily passed his test, but Sakura could still easily drag them down. And in the chuunin exams, any mistake could be their last.

Having made his decision, he squared his shoulders. "Since you're so excited, let's do the test now, spar with me. I will go all out so don't hold back." He fell into a ready stance.

'_Eh, spar? Against Iruka-sensei? Iruka-sensei is a chuunin and the head instructor at the Academy. This should be good!'_ Forgetting all about her meditation and the dull pains she had been suffering from, Sakura jumped up from the ground in anticipation.

"Tell me, sensei. How did the others perform?" Sakura asked, eager to measure herself against them.

"They passed." Iruka gave up the information neutrally.

"Good." With a smirk curling her lips, she attacked.

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This whole day had been a mix of surprises both good and bad, Iruka mulled as he was heading home.

'_I must really be getting rusty if I had to submit to a draw against a genin.'_ He mused ruefully, reminiscing on his match with the pink-haired genin. _'I guess they really do deserve to go for the chuunin exams.'_

The instructor heaved a sigh as he rubbed the scar that ran across his nose bridge. In truth, he didn't want to stop them. But… The memories of his first chuunin exam… The casualties…

'_No!'_ He dragged himself back to reality_. 'Naruto and Sasuke did well with the traps I set.' _He consoled himself with that knowledge.

'_They will be fine. They must be fine.'_

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Sakura ran haphazardly through the village, using her ability, never minding the strain after the spar, to locate her teammates to spread the news.

'_Finally!'_ She spotted all of them at the red bridge.

"Sakura-chan! We were just about to go look for you!" Naruto even more excited than she felt, if that were possible. He burst out exuberantly. "Kakashi sensei entered us into the chuunin exam! We're going to become chuunins, dattebayo!"

Kakashi rapped the over-excited boy at the back of his head, causing him to topple over with his arms flailing. Almost falling on his face after Sakura dodged his falling form.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Naruto." Kakashi cautioned his eyes back to his ever present Icha Icha book.

"As if the dobe is going to become a chuunin like that." Sasuke scoffed motioning to Naruto's sprawled out figure on the ground.

"Maa, maa… You'll never know." Kakashi giggled as he flipped to another page.

"What test did Iruka-sensei give you?" Sakura grilled Sasuke.

He nearly shrank back at her demanding tone, especially after remembering her current affliction. But, no, it wasn't Uchiha-like to look afraid. "Multiple traps."

"Iruka-sensei gave a test? When?" Naruto had quickly recovered from his fall.

"Dobe."

"He gave everyone a test before allowing them to apply for the chuunin exam." Sakura intervened before a fight could break out.

"But I didn't get a test…"

"And nothing strange happened?" Sasuke's eyebrow was raised in a clearly disbelieving look.

"Well… I saw Sakura-chan earlier by the Academy… Why did I do to you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto seemed slightly hurt at the thought.

"Idiot. I didn't see you the whole day. I was at a training ground." Sakura pinched him.

"Ouch! But…!"

"Dobe, you are useless."

Exasperated, the other two genin turned to leave the bridge.

"Hey! Wait up! At least explain it to me! Wait…!"

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After six months of training and useless missions, he would finally be able to do something useful. Though, he did admittedly gain more from his team than he expected. Matching his wits and chakra control against Sakura, fighting against Naruto and his relentless stamina until they were both exhausted. This had increased his abilities far more than his lone trainings. Clearly training with superior, or at least almost equal opponents, as much as he'll hate to admit, is better than training alone.

The traps that Iruka had set earlier and the foreign nin with which he had picked a fight with all seemed like ants after everything else that he had went through. Still it wasn't enough. His team may not be useless, but they are still far from Itachi's level. Kakashi however… He had the only other Sharingan other than Sasuke and Itachi.

'_I can still learn more here.'_ And his team was somehow still keeping up with him, so they weren't completely hopeless.

His eyes gleamed. _'Itachi, I'm catching up. You will have cause to worry soon.'_

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Authors note:

I was restless today, for some reason or another. Here's another chapter, not quite long, not quite short. At this point, I'm beginning to write without any cause.

I hope you are able to clearly see the differences in this and the canon Naruto.

Please give me your valued feedback, it means more to me than you know.


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